Claws
by The chibi hime
Summary: All hell is breaking lose in InuYasha's time, and the worst part is that InuYasha is missing. and everyone is pinning the blame on poor Inu-chan!However, this tends to be the smallest of their worries as the story begins to unfold and intentions are revie
1. Chapter one

**Title**: Claws  
**Author**: The Chibi Hime  
**Summary**: All hell is breaking lose in InuYasha's time, and the worst part is that InuYasha is missing. and everyone is pinning the blame on poor Inu-chan!  
**Rating**:PG  
**Author's Notes:***Everyone looks around*  
"Chibi... Chibi... where'd ya'go?"  
**Stoicstella:** Oh well, Hi everyone, Stella here. Just beta'd this story for my ADORABLE little sister. thought you might want to read it, it's below. ^_^ enjoy! _Oh, and if there are spelling and grammatical errors blame me... I'm a dork... tell the author though she is capable (lol)_

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**Chapter one**

Kagome Higurashi, lay on her bed, staring at the her ceiling, while she made out small pictures in the dried plaster. The whole point of her coming home was to visit her family, but she found this a little more interesting, as sad as that may sound. Across the room, her yellow backpack lay on the floor, open, and squished tightly into a corner, the remains of food containers spilling out over the floor. Almost an hour ago she had silently vowed that she would get to cleaning it up, and then she would start packing, but the fluffiness of her comforter had drawn her in, and she knew she had no real intention of moving anytime soon. 

Kagome couldn't help but wonder what InuYasha was up to right now, she half expected him to come bursting into her room that very moment and drag her back to his time, but her bedside clock continued to tick off the passing seconds, and she heard no movement from the hall outside her door. 

_'I'd better get up,' _ She thought to herself more than once._ 'or I will have no time to pack my things'_ The picture of Inuyasha dragging her back without even allowing her to grab her bag making her crack a little smile, the train of thought never made it past her comforter. 

_'No... I think I'll lay here just a little longer...' _ She'd decide. _ it wont hurt anything.'_ meanwhile time continued to pass by quickly, and before she was even aware her eyes were drooping, she had fallen fast asleep, wrapped in the comfort of pleasant thoughts, and that trecherous blanket. 

Kagome's heavy eyelids had seemingly only just fallen shut when they snapped open to complete darkeness. With her confused daze immediately shooting towards the clock on her bedside table, she almost screamed when she saw that it read 12:00. 

_'no no no no!!! I fell asleep! I really have to hurry now!'_ the voice in her head scolded as She leaped off her bed, and snatched up the yellow backpack, causing all her things to tumble out onto the floor. 

" I haven't got time for this!" She told herself aloud, as she knelt down to pick up all the things that had rolled every which way. 

Afterward, she slowly, crept downstairs and into the kitchen, grabbing any food she could find, before creeping out the door. She felt her way across her yard, towards the dried well with only the moon's light to guide her. She had reached the well, and was just climbing up onto the edge, readying herself for the jump when she felt a hand on her shoulder, making her heart skip more than one beat. And she visably jumped to match the clammor in her chest. 

"Well don't have a cow, Kagome." She heard the 'oh so familiar' voice of the Hanyou, Inuyasha, behind her. 

"Well what do expect, sneaking up on me in the dead of night like that!" She cried out, the sudden relief turning to anger, as she whipped around to face him. 

"Whatever!" he exclaimed "Are you coming back with me or not?" His voice showed that he was annoyed. 

"I was _About_ to do that!" She fumed, no longer worried she had made him wait. "but you had no right to sneak up on me like that!" 

Brushing the somewhat long black tendrils of hair-- that had previously caught in her face-- aside, she jumped into the well, without another word to the bewildered Hanyou, who followed moments after. 

* * *

Kagome awoke to the bright warm sun, shining directly in her face. She heard talking in the distance, a gasp, and a sound like a large twig snapping. 

'_what the..._' Kagome thought to herself, while she climbed to her feet. It was a beautiful day, and the air smelled of fresh cut grass. 

She could see Miroku trudging out from behind another nearby tree, there was an, abnormally red, mark on his face, in the shape of a hand. 

_'Pulled a move on Sango again..'_ She guessed as she heaved a sigh. 

Kagome looked around, but as far as her dark brown eyes could scan, Inuyasha was no where to be seen. Giving up reluctantly, she reached down and picked up her overly stuffed yellow backpack, and started to rummage through it. 

"Aha, there it is" She said, sounding pleased with herself for remembering to bring it. She pulled a long silver comb out from her backpack, and dropped the backpack to the ground carelessly, before running the comb slowly through her tangled black hair. 

"Morning, Kagome" Miroku said, with a slight bow of his head, before seating himself down next to her backpack, the red-mark on his face had lightened up only slightly, and it was still extremely obvious. 

"Where is Inuyasha?" Kagome asked casually, looking up only a few times in-between brushes. 

"Hmmm, you don't know where he is either?" He asked, he too, sounded a bit casual. 

Kagome stopped combing her hair and looked at straight at Miroku. "So you haven't seen him?" 

Miroku lowered his gaze. "No, I saw him last night, when you both climbed out of the bone-eater's well, but I was busy, and when I saw you lie down, I saw him creeping off into the forest." He shrugged slightly. "I didn't think anything of it." 

In the distance there was a blood curdling Scream, coming straight from the village in which Kaede resides. Without a word, Miroku jumped to his feet, snatched up his staff, and brushed past Kagome in a hurry towards the small, once peaceful village. 

"I'll get Sango!" Kagome cried out to Miroku, who was already half way there. She turned and ran, top speed towards the place where Miroku had emerged. 

"Sango!" Kagome called, coming across her, sitting on the ground, cradling Kirara in her arms, and Hiraikotsu laying on the ground next to her. 

"Kagome!" Sango gasped, "My goodness! What's wrong?" She asked, curiosity and worry dripping from every word. 

"There was a scream, Miroku went to check it out, I think he wants us to follow!" Kagome explained in a frantic tone, before turning on her heel, and heading for the small village, hoping to catch up to Miroku. 

Sango let Kirara crawl off her lap before she stood up, hoisted Hiraikotsu over her shoulder, and she too headed towards the village, closely following Kagome. 

When they reached the village, Miroku was bent down over someone who looked severely wounded. Kagome and Sango exchanged worried glances and hurried over to see what happened. Miroku's face looked grim, and he didn't seem to be happy with what he saw. 

When they reached him, he was cradling a young girl in his arms, looking to be about 13 or 14, her once white Kimono now stained practically black with blood, and the movement of her chest slowly dying down as her breathing steadied a little. 

Not knowing what to do, Kagome clamped her hands over her gaping mouth. 'Oh no... who could have done something like this!' she asked herself, not exactly expecting any real answer. 

Sango spoke up first. "What do you suppose happened to her?" she asked, kneeling down next to Miroku. 

"Claws" He said, his voice too, sounded grim. 

"Claws?" Kagome asked, obviously confused. 

Miroku nodded slowly. "Yes, claws" He heaved a heavy sigh. "There are Youkai about." 

"What else is new?" she asked herself, not at all seeing what Miroku was getting at.

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**Stella** you wouldn't forget to review would you? 


	2. Chapter two

**Title**: Claws  
**Author**: The Chibi Hime  
**Summary**: All hell is breaking lose in InuYasha's time, and the worst part is that InuYasha is missing. and everyone is pinning the blame on poor Inu-chan!  
**Rating**:PG  
**Disclaimer**: Did my lack of a disclaimer last chapter trick you into believing I owned Inuyasha. Boy are you gulliable. Well for the record I don't, and neither do you, so don't bother suing, you won't win anything.  
**Author's Notes:***booming voice can be heard over a loud speaker*  
"Chibi your party is waiting at the front desk... Chibi Hime... your party is waiting at the front desk"  
**Stoicstella:** *taps fingers impatiently.* "Well nevermind her, the story is below. ^_^ enjoy!  


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**Chapter Two**

Kagome took a walk trying to get the girl off her mind. There had been nothing they could do for her, and she had passed away earlier that evening. The dark slashes all over her body were deep, and let out much blood, it was already too late to stop the blood flow, and before anyone had known it, her breath had slowed, and then, stopped all together. Now night had fallen and Kagome was, trying to get it off her mind, but only succeeded in putting Inuyasha back into her mind. 

_'Where could he have gone?' _ She thought absentmindedly _'Was it something I said?' _ But her thoughts were quickly wiped off her mind when she was sure she saw the glint of Inuyasha's silver hair in the distance. 

"Inuyasha!?" She cried out aloud, not even meaning to sound so glad to see him. She ran as fast as her legs could take her, towards where she was sure he was, but she was disappointed to find, when she got there, that he wasn't. 

_'I must have been seeing things' _She thought with a sigh. _'Could I really be missing him that much?' _ She sat down next to the tree, realizing for the first time , in a while, how much she missed the hanyou. The moon was bright that night, illuminating almost the entire forest. Some how, Kagome didn't feel alone; she didn't know why, but after countless times of scanning the area, she told herself that she was just imagining things again. 

She relaxed a little, letting her head tilt backwards and rest against the tree behind her, there was nothing to worry about, or at least that was what she wanted herself to believe. Her eyelids became seemingly heavy again, and just as she was about to close them, she felt it-Shards of the Shikon no tama, and they were moving in quickly. In what seemed like only a second, standing before her was Kouga, and he seemed ticked. He looked around, a dark scowl on his face. 

"Where is he!" he demanded. 

Kagome was stunned. "Where is who?" She asked, surprised at his anger. 

"I swear, when I get my hands on that mutt face I'll rip him to shreds!" Kouga growled. "He'll never see the light of day again!" 

"You've seen Inuyasha!?" Kagome burst out, getting to her feet quickly. 

"Seen him?" Kouga growled "That mutt tried to kill me!" 

Kagome just stood there, in shock, she now understood what Miroku meant, but she refused to believe it, not for one second. 

"He wouldn't do that!" Kagome lied, she knew very well he would, he and Kouga were big rivals "Maybe it wasn't him!" 

"I still don't see why you insist on defending that mutt" He sneered, crossing his arms stubbornly. "Besides, I am sure it was him, NO ONE smells that bad." 

_'Is it really possible that he could be responsible for that girl's death?' _ She was just about to say something, when they heard more cries of pain, coming from the other side of the forest, this time. 

Apparently, Miroku and Sango had heard it to, because as soon as Kagome had spun around in the direction of the village, she saw them riding up on Kirara's back, both looking surprised to see Kouga there. 

"Hurry, hop on" Sango gestured behind her. Without Hesitation, Kagome was on Kirara's back, and they were off, speeding through the dark forest where most of the moon light had apparently missed, followed by Kouga, keeping up with a very small amount of difficulty. 

When they had reached their destination, it was quiet, nothing was moving except the dancing flames of a campfire. Sprawled out across the small camp were the dead bodies of men, it seemed as if no one was alive except a small boy, who lay next to an old man's dead body, weeping silently. 

Kouga sniffed the air, his eyes narrowing as he did so. "I smell Mutt face" Kouga growled under his breath. 

"Come on..." Kagome made a small fake laugh, her voice quivering, "This is obviously the doing of someone else" 

"Believe what you want to, Kagome, I respect your ideas." Kouga sighed, it didn't sound as convincing as it was meant to. 

The boy who lay next to his grandfather, stood up, his cheeks were stained with tears .Sango climbed off Kirara's back, and slowly walked over to the boy, placing a gentle hand on his arm.

"Everything is going to be all right" She told the boy in a soothing tone " We are here now." 

"No!" The boy cried out. "He is here! He will kill us all!" 

Sango kneeled down next to the small boy. "Who is here?" 

"I don't know, but he will kill us, he already killed my grandfather!" Tears started to fill the small boy's eyes again. 

"Can you describe him?" Kagome asked, she too tried to sound comforting. 

The boy nodded slowly. "He wore all red..." The boy began, his voice was a lot quieter now. Kouga smirked triumphantly at Kagome. 

"Nonsense" Kagome told Kouga "A lot of people wear red!" 

"His eyes.." The boy began again, but trailed off. 

"What about his eyes?" Sango asked. 

"They were red... they scared me. I have never been so scared in my life!" The boy burst out into tears. 

_'Red eyes, huh?'_Kagome asked herself, as she looked up at the moon.  


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**Stella:** "I hate to make assumptions... but I know you will review right?" 


	3. Chapter three

**Title** Claws  
**Author** The Chibi Hime  
** Disclaimer: ** Inuyasha does not belong to me... but my sister owns a great deal of Sesshoumaru, including a large portion of his free will and a quarter of the rights to his tail.  
** Author's Note**:   
**Chibi:** Sorry for the delay, Stella started a fight with me, and so I could not get this beta'd   
**Stella:** *giving evil eye*  
** Chibi:** I mean I was delayed... unavoidably.  
**Stella:** *looks threatening*  
**Chibi:** -_-' I mean it's all my fault, sorry!

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** Chapter Three :**

* * *

The red eyes Comment had somewhat baffled Kagome, she too, whether she wanted to admit it or not, had actually begun to think that Inuyasha had been responsible for the mayhem, but that comment had certainly thrown her off. 

The only time that Kagome had ever known Inuyasha to have red eyes was while he was in his Demonic form, but that was ridiculous, as long as he had his Sword, the Tetsusaiga, he was safe from becoming that horrible monster. This worried her as well, if somehow he had lost the Tetsusaiga, or even if it had been somehow taken away from him, he would be a danger to himself, and others. As long as he was in his demonic form, he would kill everything in his path, until he was killed himself. 

_'No, how could I even think something like that?'_ The voice in her head scolded her. _'There was no way... but then again...'_ She was confused, she didn't even know what to think about it anymore. 

"Are you all right, Kagome?" Miroku asked her, shaking her out of her thoughts; she had forgotten for a moment where she was. 

"Y-Yes" She replied, her voice quivering, "I'm fine, thank you". 

With that, Miroku nodded, and turned to the small boy. " Do you have someone who takes care of you?" He asked, him, smiling slightly, trying to stop the flow of tears. 

"My grandpa took care of me." The boy told him in between sobs, and gestured to the old man, lying, lifeless on the ground nearby. 

"Do you have any family nearby?" Miroku still trying to smile a little, which seemed to work somewhat. 

"Yes.." The boy seemed to be deep in thought, distracting him from his tears for a moment or two. "I have an Aunt in the village." He pointed in the direction they had come from. 

"Would you like me to take you there?" Miroku asked. The boy simply nodded, and looked back at his grandfather once more, a sad longing look in his eyes. 

"Come" Miroku gestured, "we can take you now; that would probably be best." The boy nodded and walked up next to Miroku, ready to the lead the way. 

*** 

Kagome looked back up at the large moon, deep in thought, this had, Indeed, been a very confusing situation for her, and try as she might, she could not get it off her mind. She was just about to turn back around, and follow behind Miroku and the boy, when something caught her eye. In the distance, in a small clearing, was a boy. Not a small boy, but one who looked about her age. She could make out long silver hair, and a red outfit, but that was all in the dim light.

_ 'It's Inuyasha!' _ Was the first thought that had crossed Kagome's mind, and without saying anything to the others, she ran in that direction, excitement bubbling all over. As she neared, she was sure it was him, she could see the adorable dog ears on each side of his head, and his shining golden eyes. He looked oddly confused, as if he had no idea why he was there. 

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out aloud, still running as fast as her legs would allow. 

"What!?" He asked, as if he had no idea why she looked so excited. Before he could reject, Kagome ran right up, pulling him into a tight hug. 

"I thought we'd never find you!' Kagome sobbed. 

"Find me? What the heck are you talking about?" He said, as if Kagome had somehow finally gone off the deep end. She pulled away, a little embarrassed she had actually hugged him. 

"Erm.. You don't know?" She looked surprised "Stop it, its not very funny you know!" 

"Well than its a good thing I wasn't trying to be funny!" He replied in a mocking tone. 

"Than what are you doing?" Kagome asked, putting her hands on her hips, and glaring at him. 

"I Was--- I don't know..." He sighed, looking around. 

Kagome was shocked _'He doesn't know?'. _

"Come on, lets go tell the other's your ok." Kagome said as she turned and headed towards the destroyed camp. 

* * *

Inuyasha awoke , lying on his back, staring straight up at the stars. 

_'Where am I?' _He thought as he got to his feet; he felt winded for some reason. The area around him seemed quiet, and in the distance he could just make out the light of a campfire, which seemed to be the only real light in the forest around him. 

The air reeked of human blood, and he didn't know why. The only thing he could remember before he awoke here, was going for a walk, after Kagome had come back, but no matter how much he picked his brain, he couldn't remember how he had gotten so far out into the forest. 

He was examining the air around him, it was chilly and seemed so peaceful. He was so far into his thoughts, however, he didn't even notice a girl, about his age by the looks of it, come running towards him. He didn't even need to catch her scent to know who it was, it was Kagome, and she seemed oddly excited, calling out his name.

"What!?" he called back, He had no idea why she was so excited, she was getting close, and showing no sign of slowing down at all. 

Before he could do anything, she came right up to him, and pulled him into a very tight hug, sobbing slightly. 

"I Thought we'd never find you!" She sobbed, hugging him still. 

_'Find me? Was I missing?' _

"Find me?" He repeated out loud. He stared at her, not knowing if she had gone crazy or not. She pulled out of the hug, a little red in the cheeks. 

"Erm... you don't know?" She asked, a surprised look on her face. "Stop it, its not very funny ya know!" 

"Well than its a good thing I wasn't trying to be funny!" He replied in a mocking tone, his anger starting to rise, Why would she think he would lie about that!? 

She glared at him, putting her hands on her hips. "Than what were you doing then?" 

"I was-- I don't know" He sighed. __

'What was I supposed to say? I have no idea where I am, and apparently I have been missing... maybe I am going nuts!' Kagome just stared at him, tilting her head to the side a little, a shocked look on her face, before saying 

"Come on, lets tell the others your ok" and turning around, to walk in the opposite direction towards where Inuyasha had spotted the fire light. 

_'That's where I smell the human blood..' _ He growled under his breath. _'I also smell that wolf cub, I bet he's behind this!'_ Inuyasha took one last look at the moon above him, and then walked slowly in the direction Kagome had gone. 

_'Something strange is going on'._


	4. Chapter four

**Title**: Claws  
**Author**: The Chibi Hime  
**Disclamer**: I don't own InuYasha or any of his friends, however, I am two steps away from kidnapping him *Goes to fetch a collar and leash*   
** Author's Notes **: The Chibi Hime is at the front desk...umm...hello? Anyhow, I appologize for the _Long_ Delay, and probobly any long waits to come concidering our current situation dealing with the internet. I have the next chapter ready to go, I just must beta it,. So wait for it.I would also like to note that is this the first time I've actually done my own html and author's notes, horray! ne? ok ok..senseless junk now, enjoy and don't forget to reveiw, it would be much appriciated.  
**Chapter four **

* * *

The campsite was still somewhat dark, and gloomy, as they had left it. The fire was slowly starting to die down. 

"Where did you go Kagome?" Miroku asked puzzled. 

"See for yourself" Kagome stepped aside, so they could see the obviously distracted Hanyou walking up, not paying any mind to them, but a lot on the surroundings. 

"There you are InuYasha." Miroku sighed "You were getting us all worried." 

"Yeah, Tell them you didn't do this!" Kagome blurted out without thinking about it first,but only after she had said it, she thought she would regret it, considering The hanyou's temper. Surprisingly, there had been no snide remarks, or rude outbreaks, there was just the same mix between interest and confusion on his face. 

Kouga scoffed "Don't put on that Innocent act. We all know you did it". 

The confused look on his face quickly changed to his usual scowl. "How do we know YOU didn't do it?" He growled, crossing his arms stubbornly "After all, you are awfully quick to accuse. 

Kagome laughed nervously and stepped inbetween the two fumed rivals. "I don't think either of you did it..I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation!" Kagome forced a fake smile. 

"Of course there is!" InuYasha growled "That moron did it and now he is blaming it on me!" 

"How dare you, Mutt face!" Kouga glared into InuYasha's eyes, and InuYasha returned it. 

"You two are acting like Children" Miroku sighed. "Can't you just work together so we can find the _real Culprit?"_

"Don't be a fool!" Kouga Snarled. " I know it's him, and I REFUSE to leave _MY_ woman with him. I'll just have to stay and make sure he doesn't try anything funny" 

"_YOUR_ WOMAN!" InuYasha shouted 

Kagome put one of her hands to her forehead. "Not this again." 

"Yeah, that's right, _MY_ woman" Kouga growled. 

"SHE IS NOT YO-" InuYasha began, but was cut short by a very happy looking Kagome. "What's your problem?" InuYasha asked in the most non-polite manner possible. 

Kagome's smile continued. "You can be so sweet sometimes..." She replied. 

"What'd I do now?" InuYasha growled, as if it were an Insult. 

Kagome's smiled vanished._ 'Too Bad it's only sometimes'_ She thought with a sigh. 

"Well?" InuYasha sighed impatiently. 

"Forget it" Kagome replied, and crossed her arms. InuYasha eyed her suspiciously before returning his gaze to his foe. 

"What? Got a problem?" Kouga challenged. 

"Would you two just stop it!" Kagome shouted outloud, fists clenched. This startled the two, and they stared at her in surprise for a few moments before crossing their arms stubbornly and returning fiery glares. Kagome relaxed a little, but the annoyed look on her face lingered. 

Miroku jumped in, thinking it'd be an ideal time, before the two rivals started up again. "So, InuYasha" 

"So what?" InuYasha replied, a note of agitation in his voice. 

"Let me continue" Miroku said, sounding a tiny bit agitated himself. "Are you sure you remember nothing of the previous happenings?" 

"What are you trying to say?" InuYasha asked, raising an eyebrow. "You aren't accusing me too, are you?" 

"No." Miroku fibbed a little. " Now, what was the last thing you remember?" 

InuYasha growled. "I don't need to be interrogated, alright? I told you I didn't do it, and if you don't believe me, then I'm leaving!!" with that, InuYasha walked stiffly over to the other side of the camp, and hopped up into one of the branches of a tree. 

"He really can be immature, can't he?" Sango said, shaking her head slightly. 

"Well if he is going to pout, we may as well take the little bo-" Miroku looked around. "Where did the little boy go?" Miroku scanned the area closely, trying to catch any movement in the shadows, but failed to see the boy, or anything else moving besides the dying campfire and InuYasha's mouth as he mumbled angrily to himself. 

"Oh no"Sango gasped. "While we were busy talking, the boy must of fled to the forest because of his fear of InuYasha, and I'm sure his heated argument with Kouga surely didn't help." Miroku walked calmly over to the tree in which the scowling Hanyou sat in, high above their reach. 

"InuYasha, are you going to stay up there and pout, or would you like to help us find the boy?" Miroku called up to him. 

"What boy?" InuYasha called back down. 

"Don't act stupid, I know you heard us, your hearing is much more than that of _any_ of us." Miroku gazed hopefully up at the pouting hanyou, but the only reply he got was a few twitches of the Inu Hanyou's dog ears. Miroku sighed. "Fine, be that way." He turned on his heal, and nodded to the others to follow him as he stepped into the darkness of the forest. 

After what seemed like hours, they had found nothing and had only succeeded in wasting their time and energy, it seemed Hopeless. After all, Kouga and Kirara were both youkai, and neither of them could get even a whiff of the little boy's scent. 

Kagome watched as Kouga lay low to the ground, much like InuYasha, sniffing for the boy's scent. This reminded her of InuYasha, and she couldn't help but smile. She was caught up in her thoughts and almost jumped out of her skin when kouga stood up, and said "What are YOU doing here?" 

"Huh?" She gasped and looked around frantically trying to find what Kouga was glaring at. 

"Don't hide, I could smell that awful stench from a mile away mutt face." Kouga called flatly. 

_'Mutt face? That means InuYasha is here...'_ Kagome stared intently on the spot Kouga was talking to. Once she focused, she did notice a few things she hadn't before. Such as the floating white dog ears. 

_'I guess he didn't find it important to camouflage those.'_ Kagome's smile returned as she tried to fight back a laugh in fear that would only make him more stubborn and reluctant to show himself. Kagome focused again, but what she saw did not make her laugh. Not at all, in fact, it made her heart skip a few beats. InuYasha wasn't himself, and she could tell. Even Kouga was a little surprised. 

"Get back!" Miroku called to Kouga. 

"Why should I?" Kouga replied with a roll of his eyes. 

"If you thought InuYasha was a threat to you before th-" 

"WHAT!? A THREAT, TO _ME?_" Kouga growled. 

Before Miroku could respond, InuYasha lunged from the bushes, straight at the unsuspecting Kouga. He had his Youkai Markings on his face, and his eyes, no longer golden, were red and full of a hunger. A hunger, which apparently, couldn't be satisfied, even if he slayed them all. 

"What the-" Kouga growled. "You wanna fight? Your going down, Mutt face!" Before Kouga had a chance to ready himself, InuYasha was right in front of him. 

"INUYASHA!!!" Kagome screamed, and winced as InuYasha took a rather large chunk out of Kouga's shoulder. 

Kouga called out in pain. "You are going to pay for that you weak little-" Before Kouga could even turn around, he took a hard blow to the back and was sent flying. 

"O-Ouswari!!!!!" Kagome screamed at the top of her lungs. 

With widened Eyes, InuYasha flew to the ground and hit with tremendous force. Kagome took off top speed to where Kouga lay on the ground in a rather uncomfortable looking position. 

"Kouga!" Kagome knelt down next to him. He was bleeding badly. 

"H-how.." Kouga stammered, holding his wounded shoulder with his free hand. 

"He isn't a hanyou right now" Kagome tried to explain. She turned around just in time to see InuYasha grab her by the back of her shirt and throw her about ten feet. Before she knew it she had hit a tree hard, the impact knocking the air right out of her. She tried to catch her breath. Almost in tears as she watched InuYasha approach her. 

_'What is he going to do to me?'_ she asked herself, letting a small sob escape. 

He was not three feet from her when from behind, Kouga leapt up and with his remaining strength, threw InuYasha to the ground. 

"I'll protect you Kagome!" Kouga called to her, struggling to keep his balance. InuYasha shot up from the ground and was about to charge at the wounded Kouga. 

"OUSWARI!!!" Kagome screamed , sending InuYasha to the ground again. She repeated it again and again, about 12 times before she was sure InuYasha wasn't going to get back up any time soon..or at least she deeply hoped 

Kagome tried to stand but fell back to her knees in a squeal of pain. It felt as if the harsh blow had broken some of her ribs, and even though it was extremely painful, she had managed to get as far as Kouga, before dropping to the ground again.. 

* * *

** That's it, it's all you get. Make's you wanna read the next chapter, doesn't it? Give into your temptation, I won't tell anyone.  
Oh, and a reveiw would be nice.**


	5. Chapter five

**Title**: "Claws"  
**Author**: The Chibi Hime  
** Disclaimer**:I don't own InuYasha nor do I own any of his friends. But if I did, No one would look at me funny again...if you don't count the looks they'd give InuYasha...  
** Author's notes **: Remember kids, temptations are good. You know you want to read it.  
_Warning:_ The following may be too cute for some cold hearted persons to stomache, please contact your family doctor before continuing use of this page.(just kidding, throw up if you want to. I don't care)  
** Chapter Five **

* * *

_'hmm?'_ InuYasha awoke suddenly. He recognized his position Immediately ..he just didn't remember getting there. 

_'what the hell?'_ he thought angrily, pulling his face out of the cold wet dirt. Instead of seeing Kagome, with her hands on her hips glaring at him, he saw a whole different scene. He saw Miroku and Sango huddled around two lumps...no..people! 

He stood up, immediately feeling quite lightheaded, almost sending him backwards onto his butt. His shoulders ached, as well as his head. InuYasha examined the scene around him, as he slowly became more and more aware of things. 

_'my hands...they're...'_ He looked down at his bloody fingers. With horror he realized that the two lumps were not _only_ people, but one of them happened to be Kagome! 

He leaped over to where Kagome and Kouga lay. Kouga was unconscious and Kagome was struggling to keep from passing out, she seemed like she was dealing with an immense amount of pain. Kagome let her eyes meet his, they seemed sad..almost..afraid. 

"Did I do this?" InuYasha asked, his voice quivering. 

Kagome didn't answer, but her eyes told him he had, which what he feared the most. He was the one supposed to be protecting her with his life, yet he was the one who almost ended hers. 

He bent down, and reached out slowly to comfort Kagome, but she flinched and pulled back slightly. He quickly withdrew his hand. Obviously the shock had hit Kagome hard, and now, _he_ was the one she feared...and he couldn't blame her. 

He noticed Sango and Miroku weren't even making eye contact with him, but instead pretended to be very absorbed in tending to Kagome and Kouga's wounds. The guilt was killing him. He now knew that none of them were safe with him as he had thought so much before. They were more in danger with him than without, especially Kagome. He hated to see Kagome hurt, but the thought that _he_ had done it was almost enough to make _him_ of all people cry. 

Without another word, InuYasha stood up and jumped up into a particularly large tree a good distance from the scene. He stayed there for quite some time, sulking and thinking things over.He glanced over to where the scene once was, but was now empty. They had left him, he had spent all that time with them, protecting them, and they had left him. It almost sent a wave of rage through him until he remembered why they had done it. Obviously they had thought the same thing too. He took a deep sigh and leaned back against the trunk of the tree. 

"Nothing could make this worse" he sighed aloud, feeling quite sorry for himself at the moment. 

His eyelids became seemingly heavy and the tree became quite comfortable, before he had known it, he had fallen into a rather restless sleep. 

* * *

The rays of sunshine rushing through the window seemed blinding, only making the headache worse. Kagome finally managed to let her eyes adjust to the sun. It was morning and everyone was sound asleep around her. 

The thoughts of the previous night's events hit her, making her heart sink like a rock. She remembered the look in InuYasha's eyes. She knew he hadn't meant to do it, but still she couldn't help but fear him slightly. He could have killed her. She looked over to Kouga, bandages wound all the way up his right arm, as well as various other places InuYasha had sliced him. 

_'Why did I have to be so stupid?'_ She silently scolded herself._ 'As If InuYasha isn't going to feel bad enough..why couldn't i have talked to him..'_ If she were able to move her arm comfortably she would have smacked herself in the forehead. 

But she couldnt ignore that slight voice in the back of her head. _'He could always do it again..and maybe the next time Kouga won't be there to save you.'_ She shook her head violently, trying to shake the thought from her mind. 

"He would never do that..Youkai or not..." She tried to convince herself aloud, perhaps a little too loud.. Kouga's nose twitched a few times and he opened his eyes slowly, taking the room into focus. He looked a little dazed and confused 

"You were right" Kagome whispered sadly. 

"About what?" Kouga whispered back. 

" You know.." Kagome trailed off, she couldn't say it in fear she may break out into tears. He looked at her, the confused look disappeared, he finally seemed to remember. 

"I knew it." He growled slightly. Unlike Kagome, He was able to bring himself to an upright position. he tried to change the subject. 

"Where is that little annoying Kitsune that always follows you around?" He asked. 

"You mean Shippou-chan?" She asked, making a failing attempt to sit up herself. 

He nodded. 

"He left a little while ago. Apparently he wanted to find other members of his family." She sighed sadly. "I doubt he'll return..but I admire his determination. He was always like that you know.." She forced a small smile. "I'm happy for him." 

Kouga nodded blankly, but Kagome knew that wasn't really what he was interested in. 

"I'm worried about InuYasha too" She added softly. 

"What? _Worried_? About him? ha!" he crossed his arms. "The only one I am worried about is you. How are you feeling?" 

"Good" She lied, she knew if she told him that she felt like crap emotionally and physically, he wouldn't leave her be about it..at least InuYasha acted like he didn't care...for some reason, most of the time she liked that about him, as weird as it may seem. 

Kouga looked at her carefully, not buying her story, but nodded anyways. Kagome saw yellow in the corner of her eye and shifted her gaze to her right. Apparently someone had grabbed her backpack for her, and she was greatful. She pulled it closer to her until she was able to reach her hand into mess of objects inside. After what seemed like 10 minutes of rummaging, she pulled a small book from it and she laid it gently on her stomach.. 

Kouga read the title curiously. _"sad cypress"_ he watched her as she picked it up, opened it and began to read. He took that as a hint that she no longer wished to speak with him at the moment, and turned his gaze elsewhere. 

She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he looked around the hut curiously. He'd never been here before, but Kagome had recognized it as Kaede's hut from the moment she had opened her eyes.She hadn't found it important to tell him at the moment, after all, she was "Reading". 

_'Maybe I should go home.._' Kagome thought to herself as Kouga continued to examine the hut with his eyes. 

_'No, don't be stupid! If mother was to see you like this, she'd never let you come back!'_ the other voice scolded._ 'why should you come back?'_ The other, more timid voice in her head replied. _' After all, all you do is cause trouble and break InuYasha's heart..'_ Kagome clamped both of her hands over her ears and let 'Sad Cypress' drop. 

"No! That's not true!!!" She cried aloud, startling Kouga. 

"What's not true?" Kouga looked at her, bewildered. "Kagome...are you sure your alright? 

"heh, I'm fine! I told you that..I was just thinking..thats all." Kagome looked away and quickly snatched 'Sad Cypress' up from where she had dropped it and continued to pretend to read it. 

Kouga stared at her for a few moments, looking as if he were taking everything in, and looked away as well. On the other side of the hut, Miroku opened his eyes, staring for a long time. Probably taking things into focus. Sango was still fast asleep, lying close to Kirara who was in a little ball. 

_'I hope he isn't still looking at me.'_ Kagome thought. She could feel her cheeks reddening. _'He probably thinks I'm crazy.'_

Miroku sat up, and glanced from Kouga to Kagome. 

"You seem to be taking this well Kagome..Are you alright?" Miroku asked, wiping his eyes. 

Kagome lowered her book slightly, just enough so he could see her eyes. 

"Would everyone stop asking me that!?" She growled "I'm fine!" She heaved a heavy sigh, and hid behind her book once more. 

"Its perfectly understandable" Miroku Continued "You've gone through a lot. There is no need to hide it. Its Ok." Kagome set her book firmly on the ground next to her. 

"Alright..I'm NOT fine...please lets not talk about it!" Kagome sighed. 

Miroku nodded. "If that is what you wish, Kagome." Kagome continued to watch the two of them from the corner of her eye, they were talking but she didn't catch what they were talking about. Her vision started to get blurred, she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She turned her head and looked out the door into the beautiful morning. She wished more than anything to see InuYasha perched high up in one of those trees. 

* * *

InuYasha looked around. The area around him was foggy and the moist air made it extremely warm. In the distance he could make out the outline of a woman. He didn't know why but he felt that he needed to get to her, whoever she was, no matter what it took, but the longer he walked toward her, the farther she seemed to be. 

Just as everything seemed hopeless, the fog started to lift and the air around him became cooler and calmer. He could now make out the face of the woman. Her eyes were dark, with the slight trace of a smile. She looked kind and content. The long black hair that fell down her back flowed gently in the calming breeze. It was Kikyou. Her smile widened, and her eyes began to sparkle in the sun as the clouds began to clear. He wanted to be by her side more than anything. The young priestess motioned for him to come closer, and he did. He ran like the wind to her aid, and nothing in the world was going to stop him. He pulled her into a tight embrace, he was happy there, and nothing else in the world mattered anymore. When he finally pulled away, he looked into her eyes, they were just as he remembered them. Warm and kind. She took his hand and guided him to the top of a hill that didn't seem to be there before. When they reached the very top, she sat down. The view was incredible. He could see the village and miles beyond. It was beautiful. Slowly, he sat down next to her. 

"I'll never leave you again" He whispered softly. "I will always protect you." 

"I'm glad" The woman replied. 

The voice was different. InuYasha turned his head quickly. No longer was it Kikyou who sat contentedly next to him, but Kagome. 

"Don't leave." 

InuYasha jolted awake. It was morning and the sun was blinding. He stood up on the spot where he had fallen asleep in the tree and looked around. The area seemed different in the light. The words of Kagome repeated over and over in his head. 

"Don't leave." 

He hopped down from his spot in the tree. He had to go see Kagome, nothing would change his mind. 

"I'm not going to leave." He said aloud. With that in mind, he sped off through the forest. His best guess was Kaede's hut, it was the closest. When he reached the village, he began to have doubts. 

_' What if she doesn't want to see me?'_

He quickly shook it from his mind. Of course she would want to see him..why wouldn't she? Of course he knew why she wouldn't, but he didn't want to be reminded of it. As quietly as possible, InuYasha crept around the outside of the hut and peeked inside. There she was. She was hiding behind some weird looking book and mumbling to herself. He shifted his gaze to the left where Kouga and Miroku seemed to be deep In discussion. 

Kagome lowered her book and looked back out the door, meeting his eyes. They weren't as happy as they were in his dream, but they weren't sad and afraid as before. She looked surprised.. 

_'Maybe it's too soon'_ He told himself as he turned and readied himself to leave,but before he could Kagome spoke up. 

"InuYasha..Don't leave." 

He turned back around, she'd said the words that had taunted him all that time. "I won't." He replied. "That is..if You want me here." He met her eyes again, they sparkled almost exactly like they had in his dream. 

"Of course I want you here." She smiled. The timidness in her voice lessened. Although it looked as if it pained her, she sat up. "Don't ever leave me." 

InuYasha rushed inside and pulled Kagome into his arms. "I won't." 

They stayed in the embrace for what seemed like 10 minutes before they both let go. He felt the joy that had escaped him long before, and he never wanted it to leave. He didn't even notice the awed looks on Miroku and the newly awaken sango's faces. The look on Kouga's face, however was different, but it was a good thing InuYasha didn't see it. 

She did want to see him, and that was all that mattered for now. 

* * *

**Well, I warned you.Due to situations such as getting cancer from Cigarettes, I am required, by law, to put such warnings on incredibly cute things due to previous law suits. Hey, We're still friends right? Well, just to show me how much you care, drop me a review on your way out (and clean up your mess, it sickens me.)**


	6. Chapter six

bTitle/b: "Claws".br  
  
b Author /b: The Chibi Hime. br  
  
b Author's notes: /b Yet another of my "beautiful" works, go ahead, awe in my glory! Muwhahaha! For you have seen the longest of my chapters yet! Cower. Cower I say, cower and read!!! *ahem* please?^_^'' br  
  
b Disclaimer /b: I do not own InuYasha Kagome or any of the charactors having anything to do with InuYasha, BUT if Rumiko stops by, I have no idea where InuYasha "Disappeared" off to. br  
  
b Chapter six /bbr  
  
hr  
  
  
  
pKagome sat on her knees in the same spot she was before, in all the excitement, she had nearly forgotten about her wounds all together. She listened as InuYasha sat acrossed from her, trying to explain to them what happened.  
  
p"It was like som,ething came over me.." He said almost in a whisper, as if he were unsure of himself.  
  
Miroku glanced from the cross legged Hanyou to Tetsusaiga on the floor next to him, and back again quickly. InuYasha knew what he was going to say.  
  
p"I Know...how did I transform?" He shifted uncomfortably " I had Tetsusaiga with me..at least I think."  
  
pKagome looked away, deep in thought.   
  
pi'Had he had Tetsusaiga?'/i She pondered I'There wouldn't be any other reasonable explanation.'/i   
  
pTry as she might, however, she couldn't remember if he had it with him. After all, it wasn't exactly what she was concentrating on at the time.  
  
Sango sat peacefully next to Kagome, Listening politely and stroking the tiny Kirara's back.  
  
InuYasha looked up suddenly, curiosity shining in his eyes.  
  
p"hmm?" Kagome focused back on InuYasha "What's that matter, InuYasha?"  
  
p"Youkai" He stood up and scanned the area carefully through the doorway.  
  
pSango stood up, startling the sleeping Kirara.   
  
"How many are there do you suppose?"  
  
p" Just one " He replied, placing his right hand on the hilt of Tetsusaiga.   
  
pKagome looked around.   
  
' Funny..I don't see anything' Kagome stretched to see past InuYasha, but his figure blocked the door and any hope of looking outside to see anything useful. At Last InuYasha moved, but it was toward something, something that sent a shiver down her spine.  
  
p"What Is that?" Kagome gasped. It was extremely tall and worm-like. Its head-well..what she thought was its head was jet black, while the rest of it was dark purple, except the very end of it, which looked exactly like the front.   
  
Kagome screamed.  
  
p"InuYasha! Look out!!"  
  
hr  
  
pInuYasha stood in the doorway of Kaede's hut, staring out at the large Youkai. It didn't seem to be up to anything until it charged with little warning.  
  
p"I'll teach it to challenge ME!" He growled under his breath, and drew his sword. When Tetsusaiga fully transformed, and without another thought, InuYasha shot towards the youkai, Sword raised. The large worm-like youkai opened up its mouth, revealing thousands of tiny sharp teeth, it intended to eat him! Or so he thought, little did he know that behind him also shot another mouth of razor blades, the first was only a distraction.   
  
pInuYasha heard Kagome scream and turned his head sharply to see what was the matter. He saw the mouth but before he had time to react, he was smashed into from the back, sending him flying forwards, and landing hard on his stomach.   
  
The hanyou lifted himself onto his knees and carefully inspected the great monster from afar. One of the mouths was an illusion, but unless he figured out which one and had some way to mark it, there would be no way to tell.  
  
pInuYasha shifted his eyes towards the hut where he saw Miroku start to remove the prayer beads wrapped tightly around his right hand, revealing the wind tunnell. However, before he had time to use it, he quickly withdrew his arm and fastened the beads back to their previous spot.  
  
p'Huh?' InuYasha strained his eyes, he saw it now. Behind the Youkai were poison Insects. 'So Naraku is responsible for this.'   
  
pInuYasha shot up from his spot on the ground, Tetsusaiga raised.   
  
p"Guess I'll just have to do it myself!!" InuYasha bounded towards the worm, unsure where to attack, and if its beady little eyes caught him yet. It really was a rather unpredictable creature.   
  
p"InuYasha!" Kagome cried out to him " Be careful, he has two jewel shards!" she paused for a moment. "One is on his...well there is a jewel shard on each of his ends!"   
  
p"Is that so?" He scoffed "Well no amount is going to stop me. And when we are finished here, we will have two more jewel shards!"  
  
pInuYasha looked from right to left. On either side was an end of the creature, the illusion and the deadly mouth which contained the razor sharp teeth. Which? He couldn't tell.   
  
Both Shot towards him at a lightning fast speed. InuYasha shot upwards with all the strength he had in his legs, but was snagged by one of its teeth, splattering the actual head with blood from the wound.   
  
He cried out in pain and landed a little farther away from the creature. His right arm had an extremely deep gash on it, extending from his shoulder , almost to his wrist.   
  
pInuYasha covered it with the sleeve of his haori and glared at Kouga who sat next to Kagome like an Idiot, pretending as if Nothing were happening.  
  
pi'Weak moron'/i InuYasha thought to himself before returning his gaze on the blood thirsty worm.   
  
p"InuYasha!" Kagome called out again. "Do you think you can still fight?"  
  
p"huh? Of course I can still fight!" He called back to her, with a roll of his eyes.  
  
p"Then stop gloating and LOOK!" She growled back, agitated. " You can tell which one is its head now!"  
  
pInuYasha looked to where Kagome pointed. She was right, his blood marked its real face.  
  
He nodded and with the remaining strength in his right arm, raised Tetsusaiga.  
  
p"Say your Prayers!" InuYasha growled and grasped the hilt with his left hand. "It's all over now."  
  
pWith tremendous speed, InuYasha shot towards the beast, a cocky grin on his face and Tetsusaiga raised high above his head. With one swift swing, he slit the monster down the middle, starting at it's forhead. With a loud eerie, pig-like squeal, the beast fell to the ground, now in two halves. Within seconds, the beast's flesh disappeared, revealing the fallen Jewel shards and its bones.  
  
he landed lightly on the ground next to the rubble of the fallen youkai, and quickly snatched up the two Jewel shards.There was a huge gasp from the hut and when he turned his head to see where the sound had come from, he saw Kagome limping hurriedly toward him.  
  
p"Kagome?" He asked, raising both eyebrows in surprise "What do you think your doing? Your not even supposed to be standing!" He rushed over to her to save her the walk and let her climb onto his back.  
  
p"You really are dumb sometimes Kagome, Your going to make it worse." He told her flatly and began to walk as swiftly and as gently as possible back to Kaede's hut.  
  
hr  
  
pKagome sat in the hut watching, fear filling her from head to toe. She watched As InuYasha Glared coldly at Kouga before returning his gaze to the disgusting worm creature. She looked at his deeply wounded arm with concern.   
  
pi'It must really hurt'/i she thought to herself with a small grimace. Just then, a thought came to mind. After all, it was a rather large wound, and maybe it would prevent him from being able to defeat the youkai! Also, the dark red blood that gushed from his wound was now on the worm's face! iOf course/i!  
  
p"InuYasha!" Kagome called out "Do you think you can still fight?"  
  
p"huh? Of course I can still fight!" He shouted back with what looked like a roll of his golden eyes.  
  
p"Well than stop gloating and LOOK!" She growled back, agitated. "You can tell which one is the head now!" she pointed towards the beast's head and watched as InuYasha followed her finger, a light bulb seeming to go off in his head as he nodded quickly back at her.   
  
pShe watched as he lifted the Tetsusaiga in the air with his right hand.  
  
p"Say your prayers!" InuYasha growled. Kagome watched as he gripped the hilt of Tetsusaiga with his left hand as he said this.   
  
p"It's all over now!" He charged the beast, the same cocky i"I'm better than you, so praise me"/i Look on his face that Kagome had recognized, with one swift swing, Tetsusaiga sliced through the flesh of the beast until it was nothing but two halves, soon just bones as the skin quickly disappeared.   
  
pKagome saw the glow of the jewel shards and watched as InuYasha snatched them up. She sighed heavily with relief, before she had realized InuYasha's wounds, which sent an unexpected and unintentional gasp from her lips. Kagome startled herself and looked around quickly, realizing it was her, she waved it off. she quickly brought herself to her feet to the best of her ability, which proved extremely painful. As fast as she could manage, she limped towards the hanyou, trying to ignore the pain.  
  
p"Kagome?" He asked, raising both eyebrows in surprise "What do you think you are doing?" He rushed over to her and let her climb onto his back, which came as quite the relief to Kagome.  
  
p"You really are dumb sometimes Kagome, You're going to make it worse" He said flatly.  
  
pKagome was currently concentrating on trying not to eat InuYasha's hair that was brushing gently against her cheeks and threatening to fly into her mouth at any moment. The silver strands got so annoying, Kagome had to let go of one of InuYasha's shoulders and risk falling off to cover her face, at the same time trying not to touch InuYasha's cut. This, however, made it quite difficult for herself, as well as InuYasha.  
  
p"Kagome, InuYasha are you alright?" Miroku and Sango chorused together.  
  
p"Yes..I'm fine" Kagome replied "But InuYasha is hurt".   
  
pi'what else is new?/i' Kagome thought silently to herself. i'He always manages to get hurt'/i  
  
p"Kagome!" A much deeper, older woman's voice came from afar. It was Kaede. Kagome had begun to wonder where she had gotten off to. "What has happened here?" She began to ask, but didn't quite finish the sentence when seeing InuYasha. Apparently, from Miroku's story the night before, she hadn't expected to see him there.   
  
p"Kaede-baba" InuYasha sighed "There you are. You'd think you would be here, you live here don't you? What the hell were you doing?"  
  
p"Calm yourself, InuYasha" Kaede said calmly "I'm high priestess here, I have things to do, and you know that"  
  
Kaede turned to Miroku, her arms full of various herbs and plants from the forest. "Now, can you tell me what happened here?"  
  
p" There was a Youkai attack, Kaede-sama" Miroku replied politely " There were poison insects, meaning Naraku had something to do with it."  
  
p"Which also means he is brewing something up wherever he is" Sango added "We'd better leave the village as soon as Kagome is well. We don't want to endanger the villagers anymore than we already have"  
  
pKaede nodded, showing that she understood. She looked at InuYasha, from the tips of his fingers on his right hand all the way up his arm. The wound had stopped bleeding some, but his sleeve was still wet and caked with dried blood.  
  
p"We had better treat that" Kagome said timidly, Climbing off InuYasha's back reluctantly. She looked around the hut eagerly for her backpack, and within moments of spotting it, she had returned with the same large medical box she had forced upon him before. InuYasha recognized it. Kagome withdrew a long string of white cloth from the box, and looked at InuYasha. He knew why. After all, it happened often enough that it seemed to be quite the routine. With the familiar roll of his eyes, InuYasha removed both of his shirts and allowed Kagome to try and wipe the dirt from his wound, wincing all the while.  
  
p"There is so much dirt" Kagome sighed "Are you sure you didn't roll around in the mud before you came back, like a bad puppy." Kagome laughed at her own remark and InuYasha's dog ears twitched like mad in his growing anger.  
  
p"Puppy?" InuYasha growled.  
  
p"Oh, have a sense of Humor" Kagome said, agitatedly.  
  
pInuYasha's frown deepened. " Your the one with the humor Problem" He sneered "Besides, I wouldn't of had time even if I had wanted to"  
  
pKagome's anger started to rise slowly.  
  
p"InuYasha, InuYasha come help me walk because I'm impaired!" He mocked  
  
p"WHY YOU!" her voice began to rise "WELL, Excuse me for caring!"  
  
p"Caring?" He scoffed "So is THAT what you call it?"  
  
pInuYasha cried out in pain, catching everyone's attention who hadn't already been watching the heated argument. Kagome hadn't been paying attention, and in her anger had pulled the bandage far to tight. She quickly released it, letting it loosen and the normal color return to InuYahsha's arm.  
  
p"Serves you right anyhow" she mumbled.  
  
pInuYasha glared at her. How silly of her to think that he wouldn't hear her. After a moment or two, she decided that it was better that way, he DID deserve it after all.   
  
pi'What a Jerk'/i She thought to herself angrily amongst other heated ramblings. i'but then again...'/i   
  
pKagome quickly tied a bow at the end of the bandage, making sure it was just tight enough to prevent anymore damage to InuYasha's wound.  
  
p"Thanks" He said quietly, even though it didn't sound much like he was very thankful at all.   
  
pi'He can be sweet...'/i   
  
p"Maybe next time you'll pay attention to what your doing." He added.  
  
pi'WHEN HE'S ASLEEP!!'/i  
  
pKagome turned around coldly, her back facing InuYasha In fear she may hit him or sit him...of course..sitting him wouldn't be such a bad idea...  
  
pKagome turned her head slowly to see InuYasha to find that he was staring straight at her.   
  
p"What do you want?" He asked " Another ride?"   
  
pKagome shot up from the ground, fists clenched.  
  
p"OUSWARI!!" She screamed.   
  
pInuYasha shot face first into the dirt floor, eating quite his share of mud and stones..alot more than he probobly would have preferred.   
  
While InuYasha still lay Face first in the dirt, Kagome stormed out of the hut. She waited until she was a good distance away, before sitting herself back down underneath a large tree. The long slender branches provided much cool shade, although the sun was beginning to set, and it wasn't much needed, Kagome didn't care.   
  
pi' He is acting worse today'/i she thought, trying to calm herself by changing the subject slightly. i'There must be something bugging him..'/I  
  
pi'You mean something more than usual?'/i The other voice in her head joined in. i'He is always so rude'./i  
  
pKagome nodded to herself and continued in deep conversation with herself, nodding every now and again when she came in agreeance with herself, and shaking her head violently when she thought something that did not please her. If someone else were watching, she would look pretty crazy.  
  
pAfter what seemed like a half an hour, the area around her was pitch black, and night had long since begun. Kagome decided that she would finally go back to the hut, since she had finally calmed down. When she looked towards the hut, she noticed that there was no light from a fire nor any movement from within. Slowly, Kagome stood up, still trying to see if there was anyone in the hut at all. It was hard for her to believe that they had all fallen alseep already. Cautiously, she crept towards the hut. The only noise that could be heard in the dark forest was the soft crunch every now and then as Kagome stepped on a twig lying in the shadows.   
  
Kagome had finally arrived at the motionless hut after what seemed like an hour and slowly peeked inside. The hut was empty, and not even Kaede sat within. she started to panic slowly, her breathing became more rapid.  
  
p"They left me" She said quietly, almost in tears. "They left me, without even one arrow for my protection!"   
  
pShe whipped around to look at the eerie forest behind her. In her panic, she began to run as fast as her legs could take her, she noticed something warm touching her skin below her neck, but she was far too scared to look. She had run for quite some time but as she was ready to turn sharply around another tree she found herself face first on the ground. She had tripped over her own pants. Kagome had already gotten up and began to run again before realizing that this was very odd, since she wasn't wearing pants. It took her a few moments to think about it before slowing down and stopping completely in the middle of a clearing. Slowly, she looked down. She recognized her outfit. It was the very outfit that Kikyou, had worn. She remembered how strange it felt to wear such clothing when she had worn it once before, back when InuYasha was very unfriendly towards her.   
  
pSlowly, she took a step forward, and then another until she was going at a rather steady pace. From behind, she heard the faint patting of feet coming, they were moving too fast to be human. Before she could turn she felt a sharp pain in her right shoulder. When she looked down in horror she saw blood, and tons of it. She could feel it, the warm ooze dripping down and trickling off her long once white but now bloodstained sleeves. She no longer felt the small warmth below her neck and her wound made her extremely dizzy, making her fall to the ground. She looked up, hopefully for help. What she saw sent a gasp straight from her lips. It was InuYasha, he had the Shikon no tama, and it was full! She couldn't believe it, the warmth must have been the jewel! Now that they had it, InuYasha was going to leave her there and let her die!! The pain blocked his words , but she saw him trot off. She shot up from the ground, her anger the only thing allowing her to do so. She pulled an arrow (That was not there before) out and picked up her fallen bow on the ground, before racing towards the hanyou. When she finally at caught up with him, she stood her distance. Within a few moments, she had notched her arrow, taken careful aim and shot it. She never got to see if it hit or not, by then, she had awoken.  
  
pKagome frantically looked around her, it was dark but she still felt the familiar warmth on her neck. She looked down, fearing it would be the jewel and found that it had been InuYasha's nose! She giggled nervously at the thought. InuYasha had apparently felt sorry and came out to see if she were alright. He must have found her asleep and sat next to her, soon falling asleep himself. It looked as if he had tipped over in his sleep and he was now practically in her lap which made her feel a bit uncomfortable, but he was so peaceful looking she didn't want to disturb him. So, instead she sat there for hours, thinking about her dream. It was a strange one.  
  
PI'Was I remembering the incident from Kikyou's life?'/i she asked herself i' or is it my worries shining through that InuYasha will betray me..no..us...if we get the jewel back together again..to become..a full blooded Youkai'/i  
  
pi'Perhaps it is both'/i She decided, before staring transfixedly at the moon in the mid night sky.i ' It doesn't matter'/I  
  
hr  
  
b Now, wasn't that great? I told you, didn't I? Despite all the reading, it was worth it..now don't forget to cower on your way out!br  
  
For those who do not know, I figure I would clear this up for you. In the sentence where InuYasha refers to Kaede as as "Kaede-baba", i Baba /i is pretty much the equivalent to "Old hag", Which is what he often refers to her as, in the Japanese episodes in the Anime/b 


	7. Chapter seven

bTitle:/b "Claws"br  
  
bAuthor:/b The Chibi Hime.br  
  
bAuthors Notes:/b Well, We all know that I have been skipping out on the funny/cute InuYasha/Kagome Moments a little, so...You'll just have to read and find out if I care or not..*evil Laughter* Let your curiosity take control, and once again, give into Temptations! Your secret is safe with me, young grass hopper, I shant tell a soul. *wink* Promise.br  
  
bDisclamer/b: I don't own InuYasha or any of the related Characters..Only because Rumiko likes InuYasha and won't give him to me! *sob*br  
  
bi Chapter Seven /b/i  
  
hr  
  
pIt had been days and the weird dreams returned each night. They all were exactly the same and kagome had begun to worry. Of course, she'd been too embarrassed to mention it to InuYasha.  
  
p"InuYasha" Kagome turned around, swinging her backpack onto her shoulder.  
  
p"What?" InuYasha looked up at her from his spot on the ground.   
  
p"I'm going home for a while, ok?" Kagome knew that no matter what, she was going to go home anyway. It was just better to make him ithink/i that whether he was okay with it or not, had anything to do with it.  
  
p"Run out of all that weird food you carry around with you?" InuYasha rolled his eyes.  
  
p"Well.." Kagome reached into her backpack and pulled something out and dangled it in front of InuYasha's face. She could just see the hungry look in InuYasha's eyes. It was Raman.  
  
p"I still have this" She teased " But I'm not so sure you deserve it."  
  
p"Deserve it?" InuYasha growled "What did I do now!"  
  
p" You never apologized for the other day" Kagome teased again, stuffing the raman back into her backpack .   
  
p"Why should I apologize?" InuYasha growled, his eyebrows narrowed slightly.  
  
p"Your impossible!" She sighed loudly, and with that, turned on her heal, headed for the bone eater's well. It would be nice to be home again, staying  
  
in the feudal era was nice, sure, but she missed the fluffiness of her feather pillow and her cotton bed sheets.   
  
pWhen Kagome reached the well, she swung one leg over the edge and turned to look at InuYasha. He wasn't even looking at her.  
  
pi'he really ISN'T sorry!'/i She thought angrily to herself as she swung her other leg over the side of the well and let herself drop into the darkness.  
  
pThe next time Kagome looked up, she was in the bottom of the dry well of her time. The shrine was dark and it didn't seem like anyone was around.   
  
pShe made sure she had a good hold on her backpack, and slowly climbed the ladder to the top of the well. When she reached the top she let herself  
  
drop to her knees onto the ground next to the well. She sat there for a while, deep in thought until the backpack gradually began to slip off her   
  
shoulder, and within minutes fell with a loud 'Thump' on the ground next to her. Kagome reluctantly stood up and opened the door of the shrine.   
  
pThe birds were singing joyously and the sun shining brightly. The warm rays seemed to welcome her home.  
  
Kagome smiled and strolled towards her house. When she reached the door she took off her shoes and laid them down gently next to the door.   
  
pThere she saw her mother and sota's shoes, which meant they were home somewhere. She tiptoed upstairs and within a few moments after   
  
passing her doorway, had flung herself onto her bed and let her backpack drop carelessly to the floor next to her bed.  
  
pi'What heaven'/i She thought.  
  
hr  
  
pThe woods were thick and green. The birds where singing quite loudly and no one even seemed to notice something small and furry begin to   
  
approach. It crept up slowly, getting closer and closer, until...  
  
p"AHHH!!!"  
  
p"You never were very good at hiding, Shippou" InuYasha said flatly as he held the poor kitsune by the tail.  
  
p"I'm glad to see you too" he replied sarcastically.  
  
p"No luck with you family hunt, then?" InuYasha asked, letting the kit drop on his face.  
  
pShippou sat up, wiping the dirt off of his face.   
  
p"None," He replied sadly. "Their out there somewhere, I know it!"  
  
p"Why did you decide to come back then?" InuYasha groaned, even though Shippou knew he missed him deep down.  
  
p"I Missed you too" Shippou smiled, this time, he wasn't being sarcastic. "So...where's Kagome?"  
  
pInuYasha looked away.  
  
p"Don't tell me...you two are fighting..again" Shippou moaned, he knew it from the look on InuYasha's face that it must be true.  
  
p"NO!" InuYasha growled stubbornly " She is just being..annoying."  
  
p"So you bSENT/b her away!?" Shippou grew wide eyed.  
  
p"NO! She went home on her own" InuYasha muttered.  
  
p"Without ANY help from you whatsoever?" Shippou teased.  
  
p"Of course! Everything is my fault and I should apologize for ever little thing that I do! I get it!" InuYasha raised   
  
his voice quite a bit while stating this.  
  
p"I could have told you that.." Shippou teased even more.  
  
p"Shut up you stupid little runt" By then, InuYasha had changed from a playful mood to a angry one, which could only result  
  
in some hand-to-head contact (InuYasha's hand, Shippou's head.)  
  
hr  
  
pA few hours later Kagome awoke, lying face down in her soft, warm bed sheets, the sun still shining in through her window  
  
brightly. She sat up and looked around, the backpack next to her was replenished with a whole new stock of items and set   
  
neatly on the end of her bed.   
  
pi'Guess mom's been doing some cleaning'/i she guessed  
  
pShe stood up, stretched and glanced at the clock. It read "5:53 p.m.". She was starting to feel sorry for leaving so quickly.  
  
pKagome had stayed in the feudal era for nearly a week, and today it was saturday...Usually when she went to InuYasha's time   
  
anyways..so..why not?   
  
pQuickly, she snatched up the newly stocked backpack, changed out of her blood and dirt stained school uniform and  
  
was on her way. The house was still quiet downstairs , Kagome figured that Grandpa must be taking a nap so she made sure to  
  
tiptoe out the door.p When she stepped outside it was still quite cheerful looking outside except for some thunderclouds   
  
forming to the east.   
  
pWhen she had stopped admiring the weather and finally managed to reach the well, she hopped inside without another thought.  
  
pWhen she looked up, she saw that same outdoor beauty as in her time. how lucky.  
  
pCarefully, she made her way up the vines until she managed to reach the top of the well. She didn't know where InuYasha was,  
  
nor how she planned to find him.p When Kagome climbed out of the dark well, she felt a queer sensation. There were alot of   
  
jewel shards really close by, tons maybe! She turned her back to find the familiar baboon pelt and the evil grin on the face   
  
of the one wearing it. It was Naraku. But what does he want with her?  
  
p"There you are, girl" He smirked. " I thought you'd never show up."  
  
p"What do you want?" She tried to sound tough, but to no avail, he could see through her as if she were glass.  
  
p"You seem to be quite valuable to InuYasha, are you not?" He questioned, turning his back to her.  
  
p"What kind of question is that..I don't Know.." She replied.  
  
pHe turned back around to face her again. "You seem to be." His smirk widened. "Without you, He couldn't even find any Jewel   
  
shards, could he?"  
  
p"Oh! THAT'S what you mean't..heh heh..." Kagome blushed.  
  
p"And without you, he won't use his full power" He continued  
  
p"InuYasha is strong..He can whether I am or n-" She paused "Wait, your going to try to Kill me aren't you!" pKagome glared at   
  
him, fists clenched, apparently in the delusion that she stood any chance fighting him.  
  
p"No, not yet." He pulled the top off of the baboon pelt, revealing his cold pitiless eyes and evil smirk that still remained.  
  
pSlowly, he reached one hand towards Kagome. Long bony fingers crept towards her face and Kagome had the strange desire  
  
to bite them. Naraku's fingers continued towards her face until they were not two inches from Kagome's forehead.  
  
P"Pity" He said.   
  
pThe last thing she knew after that she was plunging into the well, and darkness.   
  
hr  
  
pIt had been nearly seven days with no sign of Kagome. InuYasha was worrying, even though he wouldn't admit it. pUsually by now  
  
he'd have went to see what was up, but this time something told him not to. It was just a weird feeling.   
  
p"InuYasha, go see what is going on with Kagome." Shippou groaned, he was quite persistent about it, even after the last ten  
  
no's, he was still at it.   
  
p"FINE!" InuYasha yelled through clenched teeth "If it gets me away from you, I'll go!"  
  
pShippou smirked triumphantly and watched as the annoyed Hanyou stomped off.p They had come quite a distance from the well,   
  
and InuYasha wasn't even sure even if Kagome had come that she would know where to look.p With one swift hop, InuYasha was   
  
in the well and with another swift hop, out.p It was a rainy day in Kagome's time and it seemed as if anything that wasn't   
  
under a roof was soaked.p InuYasha tried to leap as fast as he could to Kagome's window without getting soaked himself, and succeeded slightly..well..he got to her window, that's as good as it gets.p The drenched Hanyou stepped inside the window, entering Kagome's room. It was empty, so he decided to dry off a little before he did go looking for her.p While he stood there, wringing out his hair Kagome walked in humming some weird little tune.   
  
p"There you are Kagome, what's the deal? Why didn't you come back...you couldn't have been that mad." InuYasha crossed his arms, waiting for an excuse.  
  
pKagome screamed.  
  
p"Wh-at are you doing?" InuYasha was confused and surprised.  
  
p"Who-no..What are you?" She asked, her voice trembling  
  
pInuYasha glared at her. "That's the worst excuse you've come up with yet."  
  
p"What are you talking about!?" The fright in her voice lessened as the agitated tone grew.  
  
p"So...You really don't know who I am?" InuYasha looked at her, wide eyed and confused, his head cocked to the side like a puppy.  
  
pKagome nodded.  
  
p"Kagome, dear" Kagome's mother walked in with a load of laundry in her arms. "Oh, hello InuYasha. How have you been?"  
  
p"eenu..ya..sha" Kagome repeated slowly. "So that is your name?"  
  
pKagome's mother sighed. "It seems as if our Kagome has gotten some case of amnesia, when I found her passed out in the well, she didn't even know who she was.."  
  
pi'Passed out in the well?'/i  
  
P"What was I doing in there, any ways?" Kagome seemed eager to find out what was going on.   
  
p"Perhaps it would be best If I explained later" Her mother said soothingly "Would you please go see if your brother needs help with his homework?"   
  
p"Yes" She nodded and turned on her heel, leaving InuYasha in an awkward silence.  
  
pAfter a few moments of silence, Kagome's mother set the laundry on Kagome's bed.  
  
p"I'm worried" Kagome's mother said "I don't think this had anything to do with falling into the well. It hasn't happened before.."  
  
pInuYasha didn't know what to say, after all, he'd been thinking the same thing..Kagome's fallen ialot/i of times..as far as he was concerned, the girl was quite thick headed.  
  
p"Well, feel free to stay" She smiled warmly "Maybe you can help Kagome try to adjust." With that, she turned and walked out the door calmly.  
  
pNot wanting to stand there alone, like an Idiot, InuYasha followed.p When they reached the kitchen downstairs, he peered in. Kagome was sitting in a Chair next to sota doing long division! Of course InuYasha didn't really know that, but he still knew something fishy was going on.   
  
pi'Why is it Kagome has no problem with her school work, yet she can't even remember her own identity?'/i InuYasha thought to himself.  
  
hr  
  
p"You see Sota, you put the two here and there you go." Kagome smiled at the confused Sota.  
  
p"But Kagome..." Sota whined " I still don't get it!"  
  
pKagome sighed deeply. "This may take a whi-" Kagome paused, seeing InuYasha out of the corner of her eye. Sota saw him too.  
  
p"Dog brother!" He cried out happily.  
  
pi'Dog brother? '/i Kagome thought to herself with a small laugh.  
  
p"So tell me " Kagome said, standing up "What's the deal with the ears? They're so icute/i!"   
  
p"Cute? I'm A dog Demon! They aren't bcute/b! " He grumbled.  
  
p"iHalf/i dog demon" Sota corrected, receiving a glare from InuYasha. "What? You are!"  
  
p"Half dog demon, huh?" Kagome pondered outloud "Are there alot of creatures like you around here?"  
  
p"CREATURES!?" InuYasha fumed.  
  
p"Uh..heh.." Sota Interrupted quickly. "No, there aren't really."  
  
p"Ah..so where do you come from?" Kagome asked curiously.  
  
p"He is from the past!" Sota cried out before thinking.  
  
pKagome raised an eyebrow "The past...? Your joking right? These things probably aren't even real!"  
  
pKagome stomped over and with a large tug on InuYasha's right ear, jumped back in surprise, and embarrassment.  
  
p"Oh Kami, I'm sorry!I..I didn't think they..were..real..heh.." Kagome blushed.   
  
p"Well They are!!" He growled getting very agitated.  
  
p"Well there isn't any reason to snap at me about it! Your the freak from the past, not me!"Kagome fumed back, poking InuYasha accusingly in the chest.  
  
p"You ever think for a second that YOU were the freak?" InuYasha replied angrily.  
  
p"So how do I know you anyways?" She asked "Are you my boyfriend? Your an awful big jerk."  
  
pInuYasha blushed "no.."   
  
pThis made Sota grin from ear to ear.   
  
p"Well Kagome, You and dog brother here are pretty close I'd say! I remember a while back when you two were fighting, he came back two times in the same night just to see you, and chickened out! Also-" InuYasha put his hand over Sota's mouth.  
  
p"What's wrong, InuYasha? Let him talk!" Kagome sighed.  
  
p"It's nothing important!" InuYasha said, still blushing.  
  
p"There really is something going on between us, isn't there?" Kagome said, smiling.  
  
p"It isn't li-" InuYasha started to say, but was cut off by Kagome.  
  
p"So if your from the past, like you say, then how did you get here?" Kagome asked, puzzled.  
  
p"From the dry well!" Sota answered enthusiastically.  
  
p"You mean the well I was found in?" Kagome asked.  
  
p"Yup! Follow me!" Sota grabbed a hold of Kagome's wrist and led her out the door and into the rain.  
  
pBy the time they reached the well, they were all soaked, including the curious hanyou that followed.  
  
p"see. Watch!" Sota hoisted himself onto the edge of the well and carefully climbed down the ladder. "You see, If I am down here, it doesn't work!"   
  
p"So..." Kagome raised an eyebrow.  
  
p"Now you try!" Sota said, motioning for her to come down.  
  
pKagome rolled her eyes, finding the whole idea ridiculous. She put one leg over the edge and taking hold of the ladder, climbed down into the darkness.p Within moments of her feet touching the ground, a blinding light surrounded her, and for a few moments, she felt as if she weren't even in this world..this dimension! She was floating! And then, it all disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving her standing at the bottom of the well, puzzled and a bit freaked out.  
  
p"Sota! What was that about!..Sota?" Kagome yelled upwards. "If this is a joke, I'm not laughing!"   
  
p"It's no Joke" Kagome almost jumped right out of her skin, looking over and seeing InuYasha standing behind her. "Although I don't think your safe here now."  
  
p"Here? You mean my ihouse/i?" Kagome asked, feeling a bit annoyed with him  
  
p"No, not unless you've built a house in the feudal era that I don't know about." He replied flatly.  
  
p"Th-the Feudal era!?" Kagome gasped "you must be kidding!"   
  
pKagome started to turn to look for something to grab hold of or to climb, but no sooner had she turned her head, she was lifted off the ground and was flying right out of the well! When she finally realized that InuYasha had picked her up and they had touched the ground, she pushed him away from her.  
  
p"Hey, hands o-" She paused, looking at the beauty around her. "Wow.."  
  
p"Kagome!!" Miroku, Sango, and Shippou Chorused from Afar.  
  
p"Kaaagggooommeee!!!" Shippou cried out again, zooming towards her and leaping into her arms.  
  
p"Ahh!" Kagome gasped Dropping Shippou on his head.  
  
p"Hey!" Shippou cried out in pain and sat up, looking up at her with sad eyes. "Why'd you do that, Kagome?"  
  
p"Awww! It's so cute!" She said, her eyes filling with awe.  
  
p"What's with this "It" stuff..Are you ok?" Shippou asked, puzzled and a ibit/i offended.  
  
p"Apparently Kagome has come down with a bad case of Amnesia" InuYasha sighed.  
  
p"What's that?" Shippou asked, standing up.  
  
p"It's when you forget previous happenings in your life for a short or long period of time, or in some cases, permanently!" Kagome replied happily, liking how smart it made her sound, she must have been a girl who paid attention in class to know such things!  
  
p"But What I want to know is, why can you remember that?" InuYasha asked still unsure of the situation.  
  
p"I don't know..I remember alot of things..just not this..or me.." Kagome replied "It's like a dream..That's it! I must be dreaming!"  
  
p"What?" InuYasha raised an eyebrow.  
  
p"Of course! I should have seen it all along! Now how to wake up..this is nice and all..but just too weird! So long dream dog person!" Kagome ran full speed towards a large tree and with an earth shattering thump, fell backwards again, unconscious.  
  
pWhen Kagome opened her eyes, InuYasha was crouching beside her.   
  
p"Why did you do that? That was pretty stupid."  
  
p"I..I got caught up in the moment, that's all..this is just too unreal..perhaps I ishould/i have found a less painful way to try to wake up.."   
  
pKagome sat up with a large groan, feeling the new large bump on her fore head, wondering if she were crazy.  
  
pi'This can't be happening'/i She thought to herself. pi'Who are these people?'/i   
  
pKagome looked at InuYasha up and down curiously pi'Who is this guy, really..'/i p Her eyes ventured to his hand which lay, relaxed at his side.   
  
Pi'Claws..Claws..Why does that seem so important to me?..Why Can't I think?...Who am bI/b really?'  
  
hr  
  
b So..What did you think? Cute enough for you, while at the same time mysterious and upsetting..I think I've done my work here. Carry on! (oh, and reveiw, that makes me happy. You want me to be happy, don't you?) 


	8. Chapter eight

b Title:/b Clawsbr  
  
b Author's notes:/b I know it has been quite a while since your dearest writer has updated, and I appologize sincerly. For the past three months I have been lacking an Internet service, only being able to visit the local library. brStill lacking Internet, I must sneak a disk into the local library to update, and with all my new chapters it would require a few disks, which is risky. So..in turn, my chapters have been rotting on stella's computer for months, without a reader. Enjoy it, Enjoy it I say! For there might not be a new chapter soon if this internet tragedy continues.br  
  
b Disclaimer:/b I don't, nor will I have much chance to ever, own InuYasha and all related characters...Although Sesshoumaru sama is apparently my brother-in-law!   
  
pB ~Chapter eight /b  
  
hr  
  
pIt had been three days since Kagome's incident, and still no one could get her to remember anything. Kagome noticed that InuYasha was trying his very best to be nice, so she was a little grateful.   
  
p"Do you think it had anything to do with Youkai?" InuYasha asked Miroku Curiously .  
  
pThe two had been whispering back and forth quietly in their own little world for a while, not even seeming to acknowledge Kagome was still standing there.  
  
p"Youkai?" Kagome asked curiously.  
  
p"Yes, there are alot of them around here. InuYasha over there is only half, but sometimes.." Sango slowly faded off "Maybe I'd best not.."  
  
p"What!?" Kagome sat down quickly next to sango,her sparkling innocent eyes trying to persuade sango to continue.  
  
p"Well..InuYasha can transform..into a full Youkai form, due to his father's blood overpowering his hanyou blood." Sango started to explain.  
  
p"His father's blood?" Kagome whispered, still puzzled.  
  
p"Yes. His father, Inu no Taisho, was an InuTaiYoukai, a very great demon lord. Probably amongst the most powerful of any youkai." Sango replied smoothly  
  
p"Wow...InuYasha must be very powerful then!" Kagome smiled while remarking the obvious.  
  
p"Yes, he is. And you, are the key to it." She winked and shot smile towards her "You are his inspiration for using it, Kagome!"   
  
pKagome blushed immensely, almost turning as red as InuYasha's outfit. "Uhh..so..What about this Youkai form, what's the big deal with it?" She asked quickly, trying to change the subject to something less about herself.  
  
p"When InuYasha transforms, He is not himself. It's like it's not even him. The only thing he desires is to kill anything and everything living around him, and he will proceed to do so until he is stopped..or in other words..Killed." Sango's voice became grave and serious. "I shouldn't say anymore for now, but you should be cautious Kagome..Lets just leave it at that."   
  
pSango stood to her feet and picked something up from the ground next to the tree Kagome had previously "collided" with.  
  
p"Here, You may need this for protection from the scary youkai" Sango laughed.  
  
p"Hmm?" Kagome gazed at what Sango held out to her. It was a bow and arrow..as far as she had known..she'd never used one of those things in her life! She took it any way, looking at it up and down.  
  
p"Boy..there is so much to explain. Where do I begin?" Sango Sighed.  
  
p"Begin at the very beginning. When I came to this place! I've got time." Kagome leaned back languidly against a tree trunk, waiting for sango to begin. Even though Sango was not there from the very beginning, she tried her best to repeat what she had been told herself.  
  
hr  
  
p"Perhaps" Miroku pondered "But there is no way we can tell unless Kagome can remember!"  
  
p"Damn" InuYasha whined "She is so clueless..it's annoying!"  
  
pMiroku chuckled "She will most likely remember in time."  
  
p"I miss the old Kagome!" Shippou whined.  
  
p"Hmm?" InuYasha looked up to find Shippou dangling from a tree branch upside down. "What are you doing up there?"  
  
p"I'm staying away from Kagome" He sighed  
  
p"Why?" InuYasha raised an eyebrow.  
  
p"Every time she see's me she attacks me and tells me how cute I look!" Shippou shivered.  
  
pInuYasha wanted to find out what Sango and Kagome were chatting about. They seemed to be pretty secretive over there.  
  
p"Oh hello InuYasha" Kagome sighed. "Figure anything out yet?"  
  
p"No, You have to remember or we have nothing." InuYasha shrugged his shoulders "You better get it together"  
  
p"What?" Kagome's anger rose a little "You act like it is my fault or something!"  
  
p"How are we supposed to defeat Naraku when you are so clue less!?" InuYasha growled, becoming a bit overly aggitated.  
  
p"Naraku...That's that person from Sango's story" Kagome mumbled p"But..there is something..something about him..so familiar..it's like someone doesn't want me to remember something about him.."  
  
pInuYasha plopped down next to her on the cold earth.  
  
p"So..then Naraku did this to you?" He asked, trying to hide the new interest in his voice.  
  
p"I don't know!..there is just something on the tip of my tongue about him..something I can't think of..that's all." Kagome sighed deeply. "I feel so out of place and in the way!"  
  
pKagome started to sob from Frustration.  
  
p"Wait..Don't cry! Your not in the way at all!" InuYasha tried to soothe her, but was pretty bad at it. "You can just be annoying sometimes..But-we need you here."  
  
p"You mean it?" Kagome looked up from her tears hopefully "Then it must be true!" Her face lit up and the tears instantly stopped.  
  
p"What?" InuYasha's suspicion started to rise.  
  
p" I really iam/i Important to you!" Kagome's eyes sparkled brightly.  
  
p"Wh-what! Who told you that?" InuYasha started to blush a tiny bit.  
  
p"I don't remember..I do remember someone said it..and you just proved to me that it was true." Her smile grew even more.  
  
p"Just because I said we needed you? That doesn't prove anything!" InuYasha crossed his arms stubbornly.  
  
p"What ever you say, InuYasha." She smirked. "What ever you say."  
  
p"What were you and Sango talking about?"InuYasha asked, being a bit of a nosey puppy (^^)  
  
p"She was explaining things to me..about here..and.." Kagome trailed off.  
  
p"And what?" InuYasha asked, interested even more by the moment.  
  
p"And..You." Kagome continued  
  
p"Me? So it iwas/i Sango who said that!" InuYasha muttered angrily to himself, loud enough for Kagome to hear.  
  
p"No..she did say something similar to it though!" Kagome smiled again "She said that I was your inspiration..for your power..Is that true?"   
  
pInuYasha looked at her for a moment, unsure if she were serious. It was hard enough for him to admit it to Kagome when she were herself, he wasn't sure if he should now..it was like she was whole different person!  
  
p"Well?" She sighed impatiently.  
  
pInuYasha sighed deeply. "Well..I guess that is true..but don't you dare get all mushy about it or I'll- bHey/b, stop that smiling! "  
  
pKagome's eyes sparkled with Satisfaction, and she loved it even more that it bothered him.   
  
p"That's it" InuYasha hopped straight up from the spot he stood to high branch in the tree behind him.  
  
p"He's kinda Immature" Kagome mumbled quietly.  
  
p"I bheard/b that!"  
  
hr  
  
pKagome wandered over to Sango once more, sitting down .  
  
p"How do I get home?" She asked, trying to sound disinterested.  
  
p"The same way you came" Sango replied cooly, not even taking her Eyes of Hiraikotsu, which she was polishing.  
  
p"The well, then" She said more to herself than anyone.   
  
pKagome got up and headed for the well, if this dream wasn't going to end, she was going to leave it. When kagome reached the bone eater's well, she was unsure. After all, if something went wrong she could fall to her doom and perhaps kill herself!   
  
pThat's when she felt it. A weird sensation crept over her, that in some weird way, felt familar to her-Like she should know what it meant, but no matter how hard she picked her brain, she could not place it. pTurning around sharply, she found nothing. It made her feel quite uncomfortable, she could almost feel the presence of something..or someone for that matter...but she couldn't see it.  
  
pQuickly, Kagome started to flee back to the place where InuYasha and the others were, but was cut off by something strange. A creature..a ibaboon/i? When she took closer look she could see that it wasn't a baboon..it was only a pelt of a baboon..someone was hiding underneath it,The feeling she felt a few moments ago became much stronger and it made her as uncomfortable as ever, the fear inside her rising quickly.  
  
p"What's the matter, Kagome? Seem to forget what you were doing?" The man beneath the pelt laughed a deep horrible laugh. "Your even more helpless then ever..This wasn't my plan. But it will do." He chuckled.  
  
p"Who are you!" Kagome yelled,keeping her distance from the creep.  
  
p"Me? Forgive my rudeness!" He smirked "My name is Naraku."  
  
p"Naraku? You evil man, Sango told me all about you!" She growled.  
  
p"I haven't time for anymore introduction" He sighed, coming closer to her. "You'd best not make this difficult."  
  
p"Make What difficult?" The fear was showing even more Kagome's voice.  
  
p"You are very important to InuYasha, are you not?" Naraku repeated from his last visit, Toying with Kagome's head. "Without you, I'll be able to be rid of that mutt once and for all. I shall have Kikyou, and the shikon no tama. No longer shall you be in the way. No need to worry, I will wait til your precious InuYasha comes."   
  
p"Don't you hurt InuYasha!" She screamed "Or me.." She added timidly.  
  
InuYasha came shooting from behind Naraku,skidding in the dirt to a halt next to Kagome.  
  
p"Naraku" He growled, Kagome could hardly believe the hatrid in his voice as he said this.  
  
p"Your here." He smirked "Let the fun begin."   
  
pA dark, thick cloud surrounded them, making Kagome's lungs feel as if they were being squeezed violently.  
  
p"Inu-Ya-sh-a.." Kagome gasped for air, but the air was too thick, that she couldn't see InuYasha, but she could hear him. It sounded as if he were struggling with something.  
  
p"Oh no..InuYasha..B..Be carefu-" She couldn't breathe anymore, peverything became darker than it was before and she felt as if she were ready to pass out. She had to get out, but she couldn't find a way! She was almost ready to drop to her knee's when something white and furry came shooting through the deadly fog. The thing let her grab hold, pulling her out of the cloud.   
  
pWhen Kagome's eyes finally focused, she could see that is was Kirara!   
  
p"Kirara" She whispered, trying to find her voice. That's when it dawned on her. "Kirara! I remember you! I can slowly remember things now!!!"  
  
pKagome lept up from the spot on the ground she had fallen on after letting go of Kirara, and pulled her into a big Hug. This seemed to please Kirara very much.  
  
p"Now to save InuYasha!" Kagome called out,sounding more confident then she actually was. After all, she had been told of her "Great Miko powers" And "Sacred arrows" but had no Idea how to use her powers, and as far as she was concerned, she'd never shot an arrow in her entire lifetime!  
  
p"Wait..the bow and arrows!' Kagome remembered the bow and arrows that Sango had given to her earlier, she had layed them down back at camp. Kagome ptried her best to run through the fog with some assitance from Kirara in search of the bow and arrows. She let out of a sigh of relief when she found them lying next to the tree She and InuYasha spoke under. pShe quickly snatched them up and headed back to the miasma, when she got there however, what she saw made her drop her newly retrieved bow and let the arrows spill out all over the ground. The look on Naraku's face was no longer smug, but showed a small trace..of fear! InuYasha was not himself, he was much scarier looking than he was previously(^_~). His eyes were red and blood thirsty, his fangs had grown quite alot, and there were new markings on his face.   
  
pi'This must be what Sango had warned me about!'/i  
  
pNaraku shot towards Kagome with incredible speed. Kagome screamed rather loudly, but when she opened her eyes, Naraku was on the ground two feet from her and InuYasha was standing over him. Kagome could see blood running down his arms. Naraku's blood.  
  
pi'I thought he was supposed to be a cruel heartless creature when he transformed'/i She thought i'He saved me!!'/i  
  
p"How did you- I didn't-" Naraku Stammered. "Nevermind..I'll make you pay for that, you worthless half breed."  
  
pNaraku held his hand out to InuYasha, with a blinding light, InuYasha went flying backwards.  
  
p"InuYasha!" Kagome screamed at the top of her lungs, lunging towards the fallen Inu-chan.  
  
pInuYasha shot upwards from his spot on the ground, brushing right past Kagome, and towards Naraku once more.   
  
pHis eyes showed a even deeper thirst for blood and his claws seemed to get even longer! He swung at Naraku several times with his claws, missing, and then sent backwards with another blinding light. He did this a few times, but the last he did not return, He smashed his head hard against the tree, and was out cold.  
  
pKagome looked back. Miroku and Sango were just standing there!!! It seemed as if Naraku knew exactly what she were thinking.  
  
p"They couldn't penetrate my barrior." he smirked "Now that you are cornered and are about to die-"  
  
p"I Remember!" Kagome screamed outloud " I remember! You evil monster!"  
  
p"Really? Hmm..odd." Naraku pondered for a few moments and seemed to shrug whatever he were thinking off. "I am finally going to be rid of you. You have no Idea how hard I have been trying."  
  
pKagome looked at him with the same hatred InuYasha had before he had transformed.  
  
p"If you were wondering, which I am sure you were. It was indeed your precious InuYasha that killed all those innocent people, without a second thought, he slaughtered those poor defenseless villagers. With the power of the jewel, it's a wonder what you can do."  
  
Naraku pulled something out from beneath the pelt.  
  
pi'The Shikon no tama..It's almost full!!!!'/i  
  
P"All I need now are the shards you possess, and with the power of the jewel I was able to lure InuYasha out the one night and place my own spell upon him. I was able to make him transform into his Youkai self whenever I wished! I tried to make you lose trust in him and leave, and I also tried the alternative of making him kill you himself, but when that failed, you left. Which was perfect! I sent my minion to kill you and your friends. But alas, that worthless half-breed had to show up and ruin everything! This made me very angry. in which I hatched a new plan,aside from planting those dreams, I wiped away your memory and was to kill you myself!" Naraku stared coldy at her.  
  
p"The thing about Villans on Tv is, that they always seem to describe their master plan, and then, the hero Kills them!" Kagome raised her bow, notching an arrow and firing it, missing Naraku only by an inch, which seemed to amuse him to the point of laughter! This enraged her even more.  
  
p"I don't know of this..Tv in which you speak..but YOU, my dear, are no hero! You are going to die along with your dog friend!" Naraku laughed.  
  
pKagome notched another arrow and aimed for Naraku's heart. Before she could release it however, another arrow came shooting from the opposite direction, pericing right through Naraku's back! Naraku looked back, a pained look in his cold, evil, and slightly disappointed eyes.  
  
p"How did you peirce my barrior..Kik-" Naraku cut off, a blue light surrounding him, and with a scream Naraku's body seemed to wither away before her!  
  
pKagome looked straight into the eyes of her savior. The one whom she thought had hated her, no-..idespised/i her, stood opposite from her.   
  
p"Kikyou.." Kagome's lips tried to say, only releasing a sort of sigh in the attempt.  
  
pKikyou walked calmly over to where Kagome stood in shock. Slowly, She reached out and pulled the small jar that contained the Jewel shards out of a hidden pocket Kagome had forgotten she even had! She retrieved the shards from the jar and placed them with the rest of the jewel that she had stollen from Naraku's remains. The Shikon no tama glowed in her hands! When the glowing had died down, Kagome marvled at the now whole jewel!!!   
  
pTo Kagome's surprise, Kikyou held it out to her, motioning for her to take it!   
  
p"Kikyou, what are you doing?" Kagome asked, looking into Kikyou's eyes questioningly.  
  
p"I am dead,and have been. I admit, You are now the rightful owner of the jewel. Protect it with your life,for I obviously cannot. I iknow/i that You and InuYasha will." She replied monotonously  
  
p"Me and InuYasha..I..." Kagome blushed, searching frantically for words.  
  
p"Its alright, I understand. No one could love someone who is not there, I am just dirt and ashes..A remembrance of the Living Kikyou. You and InuYasha will be happy together." To kagome's Surprise, Kikyou smiled warmly. She'd never seen her to do this, perhaps her restless soul was finally finding forgiveness.  
  
pReluctantly, Kagome took the jewel from Kikyou and looked at it in awe, she couldn't believe after all their adventures, that the jewel was finally whole! Kikyou seemed to glide over to the unconscious InuYasha.p She bent down next to him and the second her cold gentle hand touched his cheek, he returned to his hanyou form. She bent forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek.  
  
p" As far as my knowlage extends, Naraku has been defeated, and now, after all this time,I can bring myself to forgive you InuYasha.iPlease/i, never forget me. good-bye." She whispered to him, he seemed as if he could hear her, although he was clearly still unconscious.  
  
pShe stood up and looked up to the sky with out-strechted arms, the souls of the dead she had collected previously fled from her body into the sky, the endless stream of shining lights seemed to last forever. pAs Kagome gazed at the once gentle, beautiful face of Kikyou, she could see the newly formed bags underneath her gentle brown eyes, and watched as the color disappeared from her face and once red lips. The last of the soul that retreated from Kikyou's body went to Kagome, herself. She felt strange for a few moments as the soul settled within her body. Kagome looked once more at the beautiful maiden Priestess, a smile formed on her lips for the very last time, before she closed her bloodshot eyes and her body reduced to ash, pKikyou was no more.  
  
hr  
  
bBe forwarned, this is not the end. Just thought I'd mention that..I have two more chapters lined up and ready to be..written..br  
  
I only procrastinate, so I'll have something to do tomorrow..../b 


	9. Chapter nine

**Title:** Claws  
**Author** The Chibi Hime  
**Author's notes**: Another addition to my growing story. It'll keep you busy until that voice in your head screams "this is boring"..don't worry..I know..happens all the time. Your not crazy..just practical.;) lol  
** Disclaimer **: I don't own any of the characters from InuYasha..It's too much work and Procrastination proves that satisfaction can be found, even when you don't have your own hanyou...  
** Chapter nine **

* * *

It was hard to believe that naraku had finally been defeated! The jewel that lay innocently in Kagome's hand seemed to make a small humming sound. 

_Why me? I don't want this burden, It's too much'_ Kagome thought to herself. 

Kagome turned slowly To look at InuYasha. He'd been acting a little strangely ever since he had awoken. Could he really have heard Kikyou's words? She didn't want to bother him, but she felt so bad seeing him so seemingly depressed. 

Kagome could remember the vacant empty look upon Kikyou's face as she released the imprisoned souls that resided within her cold, lifeless body. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the priestess, but at the same time happy that she had finally let her enraged soul heal enough to forgive InuYasha for the incident fifty years before, and that she would be able to rest in peace once more without any more disturbances. 

Naraku, However, Kagome did not feel sorry for. After all his heartless actions and tricks, Kagome could only loathe the horrid man. 

"Are you alright, InuYasha?" Kagome whispered, finally finding the ounce of coureage she needed. After she had said this, however, she was sorry she did so. 

"Does it _Look_ like I'm fine?" he snapped, the sad longing look in his eyes remained and to Kagome's surprise, a scowl did not come. 

"I'm sorry" Kagome replied timidly, sorry she had mentioned any of it. 

Kagome scooped up her bow and arrows and headed for the bone eater's well. 

"Wait Kagome " InuYasha sighed "Don't be sorry, it isn't your fault." 

Kagome whipped around to face him once more. 

"Who said I thought it was?" Kagome didn't know why she felt angry. She had nothing to be upset about. 

"Perhaps I am Jealous" She guessed out loud, she already felt bad about it in the first place, but when she realized she had said this out loud, she clamped her hand over her mouth tightly, as her brown eyes grew in shame. 

InuYasha was as surprised when Kagome said this as she herself. Although he knew it was true. 

"I didn't mean that" Kagome forced a nervous laugh , trying to make it seem as if it were a joke. 

"Kagome, Are you really jealous of Kikyou?" He asked, his facial expression still remained and his eyes sparkled in the light of the setting sun, making it seem that perhaps he was about to cry, which to Kagome, this seemed very unlikely. 

Kagome reached up and began to fiddle with her long black hair, remembering how long it had been she she last washed it, making her feel quite more uncomfortable. 

She took her time thinking about what to say, after all, what would you say? 

She felt so foolish to be jealous, although it was a feeling she could not just throw aside. 

As calmly as Kagome could manage, she sat stiffly next to InuYasha on the grass before releasing a heavy , heavy sigh. 

"Isn't it Obvious?" She said at last, looking him right in the face :It's just that you've spent so much time with me and we've been through so much, it sort of angers me .. That you can still love her more than me, when she is **Dead**! Kagome clamped her hands over her mouth once more, wishing she didn't **Have** one!! Why did she have to say **That** !? 

Kagome looked down to her knee's, letting her neat black bangs fall over her eyes. 

"Is that why you are acting so strangely lately, Kagome? Because you think that I love Kikyou more than you?" He asked with a steady yet somewhat timid voice. 

_'Wait'_ Kagome's mind raced '_ Did he just say 'think'..does that mean..'_

"Stupid question " He decided out loud and looked away again, gazing upon the setting sun in the distance. 

Kagome looked too, out of curiosity. She felt more guilt now than she could remember ever feeling before. Sure, she couldn't hide the fact that she loved InuYasha, but she felt extremely bad for feeling jealous over Kikyou. She had no reason to..or at least that was what Kagome had told herself and wanted to believe badly. 

She turned her head abrubtly upon hearing a loud muffled cry and watched as the bush closest to InuYasha and herself jiggled. 

"Whose there?" Kagome called loudly to the bush. Although the bush did not reply. Kagome stood up lazily and trudged over to the bush. 

Sure enough, sitting behind it was Shippou, Sango, and Miroku. Shippou was struggling to get free from Miroku's grasp, making several attempts to bite the monk's hand in order to get him to remove it from his mouth. When Miroku saw that Kagome was staring straight at him he released the poor kitsune and smiled. 

"Nice weather today, isn't it?" He chuckled nervously, Kagome could tell that he knew she knew that they were spying on her and InuYasha. 

Kagome didn't even have the energy to yell at them, she felt strangely exhausted and hopeless. Miroku seemed to notice this too, since the expected lecture about one's privacy did not come from either of them. To all of the unwanted party's surprise, Kagome rolled her eyes and with a sharp cold turn, trudged away from the scene. 

She still had so much to think about at the time being and no patience to deal with them now. Fighting the strong urge to glance back to see if they had followed, Kagome continued to march until she had reached a shadowed spot in the edge of the wood. 

A small convenient seat of leaves looked rather inviting near a rather bulky looking tree. Making her way through the mess of sticks and stones lining the forest floor she seated herself upon the leaves and leaned back against the tree. 

Her mind began to race. What of Naraku, now? It seemed almost impossible to believe he'd been gone, after all they'd been through before...Of course, Kikyou had been a powerful priestess and had more power within than any other she'd known besides herself, but even she was clue less on how to use it all. 

Her eyes began to wander the forest floor, searching for another topic to discuss with herself while she still had her time alone, when it hit her. Was she really being all that naive? WAS Naraku really telling the truth when he had said he wanted to take her life himself? Or had it been just another lie? 

Her legs seemed to spring to life once more, bringing herself upwards in an instant. She fled to the edge of the forest and quickly retreated back to the others who seemed to be deep in an excited looking discussion, although InuYasha still seemed a little forlorn. 

She continued right past them and halted right at the spot Naraku had fallen. Her eyes at once began to carefully scan the grounds around her. They lit up with satisfaction upon finding something in the grass a few feet from herself. She quickly scooped it up into her hands and dangled it into the air obnoxiously for all eyes to see, waiting for them to take notice of her. When this failed she cleared her throat loudly. After they completely ignored yet another attempt to get their attention she'd begun to get a little annoyed. 

"Look here!" She grumbled loudly at last. 

Finally, all eyes fell upon her, quickly dimming down the joyous glows within them. 

"Ah..I should have expected this..we've all been blinded by the glory that we missed what was right in front of our eyes!" Miroku gasped. 

Shippou took the object in his own little hands to examine it closely. when he was finished he too gasped. 

"So that proves it!!THAT Naraku was just another puppet!!" Shippou whined "Which means he's still out there!" 

"Why that good for nothing, low lying..." InuYasha began to rant to himself, the heat in his voice rising. The hanyou shot to his feat, a fire burning in his usually exceptionally gentle eyes like Kagome had never seen. 

"I'll take care of him!!!" Within moments of him saying this, Tetsusaiga had been unsheathed, and thrust into the air wildly in his rage as he leapt into the air gracefully. 

Kagome watched in horror as he flew through the air some feet and took off again as quickly as he had begun. She feared for him...She feared for her InuYasha! 

"Kirara!" She found herself calling before she had realized it. In seconds, The small demon had transformed herself and had swept Shippou and herself onto her back as Miroku and Sango hopped on right before She'd taken flight. "Find InuYasha!! Please hurry!"

* * *

"Master, do you believe figured you out yet?" A small voice of a servant piped up from the shadows. 

"No, they'll be far too caught up in all their excitement they won't suspect a thing. After all, it's such a great thing to be rid of me, is it not?" A spine tingling smile formed on the face of Naraku. 

The servant nodded respectfully to the man before leaving the room in a hurry, finding it rather uncomfortable. 

"Yes, such fools." Naraku grinned, turning and facing the opposite wall, now talking to himself."I can't help but wonder how well the fake jewel shards fit with the rest of the jewel..I really had worked hard on them...I would hate for them to go to waste." 

Mere moments later the scared servant, more terrified than ever, came crashing through the wall to the right Of naraku. 

"m-master! He's here!" The servant managed to squeek before a figure in red stepped in through the fresh hole in the wall. The surprised expression on Naraku's face must have showed, for the figure in red stepped forwards again, his silvery hair flowing madly behind him and his eyes, full of a burning hatred, bored into Naraku's. The thing that was the most peculiar was the cocky grin that found its way onto his face, seeming so out of place amongst the rest of his facial expressions. 

"So this is you? Not just another puppet? Are you done being cowardly you snake!" The hanyou growled dangerously. 

"Maybe..I could be real..that's just a chance you'd have to take. Besides,Your the all powerful demon, you should know these things." Naraku's cruel grin grew yet still. 

"It's a chance I'm willing to take!" InuYasha swung Tetsusaiga around so that the tip of the blade barely met with the tip of Naraku's nose. "I'll slit you in half!" 

"What's the matter, InuYasha? Don't announce it, _Do_ it." Naraku sneered, leaping backwards and pulling himself into neat back flip. 

"You ass!" InuYasha screamed lunging forward with all of the might in his legs, the huge sword at his hands as light as a feather as it swept cleanly through the air, thick with tension. As the mighty blade hit the ground, so did something else. A dull thud sounded out into the night.

* * *

"_oohh!!!_ We'll never find him!!" Shippou moaned "And he'll get in trouble and we'll never see him again!" 

"Don't talk like that, Shippou! Of course we'll find him!!" Kagome's confidence was as fake as her phony encouraging smile. 

Kirara stood in the middle of a strange village, sniffing the air, the most confused of them all. 

"Kirara's confused..there must be some kind of enchantment..hiding the true hideout.. I'm almost positive this is where he came" Sango stated 

"It must be true. After all, it wouldn't be exactly wise to just leave a hideout out in the open." Miroku added softly. " I wonder..." Miroku hopped off, and after regaining his balance, headed off about 10 feet, leaving the frustrated group to watch impatiently. "Just as I figured!" He called back 

"Hmm? Whats that?" Kagome asked, the boldness in her voice had faded from before. 

"This village doesn't lead anywhere..It's just an Illusion!" Miroku pulled something small out of his robes and placed it gently and carefully on the ground. He placed his staff next to him as he knelt to the ground and placed his hands in a praying position. With his head bent low, he muttered a few inaudable words. 

"oh my!" Kagome gasped. The area around them seemed to.._melt_. The pretty colors of the happy village seemed to run and mix with others, creating ugly browns and blacks, the sky around them seemed to rip like cheap wall paper and fall uselessly to the ground.As the strips hit the dirt, they changed into scenery. Ugly, dark tree's began to emerge from the fallen bits and pieces as a black stream began to trickle dangerously close to Kirara. The true sky was finally enchantment free, and nearly black except for the reds and oranges mixed like tye dye in some places. Finally, the foolishly happy villagers dropped to the ground soon their bones were all that was left of them. 

"What you saw was just a memory of what once was" Miroku stated gravely. He climbed to his feet and regained posession of his staff as he made eye contact with Kagome. "Naraku killed this entire village in order to hide here. He truely is a monster. Now, we must find InuYasha before he gets himself killed..and afterwords.." Miroku slowly turned around with an apologetic expression, to face the bones of the dead villagers "We must bury the remains of the villagers. It's the least we can do." 

"Assuming we survive" Shippou whispered. 

"We will survive" Kagome replied, a bit more aggressively than she meant to, startling the poor Kitsune. 

"Let's go, now!" Miroku leapt upon Kirara's back. It took a few seconds before Kagome realized what had inspired the sudden urgency In Miroku's voice. 

The entire sky before them was not what she had previously thought it to be. It was Youkai! Thousands of them, All heading towards them with evil toothy grins and scowls. The oranges and reds became larger in the sky, as the blackness of the actual sky became less and less apparent. 

Kirara shot into the air, slicing through the sky, towards the dark castle in the distance,that didn't seem to be there before. Quickly glancing at the scene around her, Kagome noticed hundreds of dead bodies of youkai, close to the castle. 

_'He must be here! He **must**!'_

A huge hole in the side of the castle near the side suggested that it was the most likely place of entry. Two Youkai swooped down upon them, unsuspectingly.In surprise Kirara haulted, and Kagome's hold on her furr slipped. Before she knew it, she was dangling dangerously from Kirara's kneck, the only hope of her living was to hold on. 

"Help me!" Kagome screamed at the top of her lungs, fear filling her from head to toe. He hands were sweaty and her arms were tired. She could just feel herself slipping. "help!!!!" 

In hope of any help at all her glanced upwards, Miroku and Sango were both busy fighting Youkai and were unable to do anything, they're tries proved useless. 

"Kagome! Hold on!" Shippou called,his short little arms reaching down towards her. Realizing this wouldn't work, he readied himself to transform. Something large interupted his attempt and hit him in the head ,throwing him violently backwards into a tumble that almost knocked him off Kirara's back as well. 

"No! Shippou!" Kagome gasped, short of breath. This was the least of her worries. before she had realized it was happening, her hands betrayed her and had let go of their lifeline sending her tumbling to the ground below, to her death. 

Kagome's heart felt as if it were bursting in her chest and her eyes grew in fear as she screamed hopelessly, falling faster and faster, head first. She couldn't watch anymore, her screaming stopped, she held her breath and closed her eyes, waiting for the painful blow as she hit the ground. 

"Ow!!" Kagome's eyes slid open, wondering if that had been it..had she died? Focusing, the area around her swarmed, her stomach turned. She looked down. The ground looked awfully pink..and round..? In a few minutes of recollecting herself , she finally realized she was floating. 

"Shippou! You saved my life!" Kagome's elation was taken over by unsuspected sobs, and even more unsuspected vomiting. 

Shippou touched the ground and returned to his usual form. Kagome dropped as he did this and hit the ground with little pain,landing hard on her back. 

"Thank you!!!" Kagome sobbed, wiping her mouth. She leapt off of her spot on the ground,towards the Kitsune and tackled him with hugs. 

She still couldn't throw that feeling of dizziness, but it didn't matter..not now. She looked upwards at the battle-filled sky, but found that her fellow travelers were too high up to see. 

"come on!" She grabbed hold of the startled Kitsune by the hand and swept him into her arms. We've got to find InuYasha! 

Cautiously, Kagome climbed through the massive hole in the wall and peered inside, her mouth fell open.

* * *

A dark pool of blood quickly formed underneath the dark figure lying face first on the ground. The pool became wider as the skin of the man became paler. 

"You rat" InuYasha breathed almost soundlessly. 

The figure on the ground was not the one who he was aiming for, but instead the servant. Naraku had managed to block the blow with his **servant**! 

"What's the matter InuYasha? Not what you were aiming for? _My_, You really do need to learn how to handle that sword of yours, don't you now?" Naraku cackled. 

The rage within the hanyou boiled and burst. He raised his blood drenched blade , readying to charge Naraku again. This time, he stopped abruptly. 

"Kagome!" InuYasha yelled, turning his head sharply towards the place he had barged in. 

"Well isn't this sweet." Naraku sneered. "No time for reunions, you both must die." 

A blinding purple light shot through the air, pouring out of Naraku as he stood there like a statue, that same ugly grin plastered on his face, not a movement was made. 

Instinctively, InuYasha shot towards Kagome, Tetsusaiga lifted slightly to the side in hopes of it acting as a sheild for them both. As the purple light hit Tetsusaiga the blade began to vibrate. 

By the time InuYasha had reached the helpless girl, she was already swaying dangerously back and forth. 

"Kagome, _no_!" InuYasha mouthed. He placed his free hand on one of her shoulders, trying to stop her from falling over. He looked at her face, it was pale and her eyes slowly rolled into the back of her head and snapped shut. Her knees gave way and she dropped with a thud to the ground, Kitsune and all. 

InuYasha dropped to the ground next to her and placed a hand on her delicate cheek. It was ice cold, and her facial expression was peaceful and empty. As a last attempt to wake her, he shook her violently, failing to get even the slightest movement from her. 

"No..No...**NOOO!!**" InuYasha was screaming louder with each _no_, and the last seemed to shake the room. "YOU-" He couldn't find any words for the way he felt. 

He shot around and glared at Naraku, his eyebrows narrowed as far as they would go, as a single tear rolled down his cheek slowly and dropped to the ground, echoing throughout the now soundless room. 

With one swift motion He had raised Tetsusaiga and shot into the air, plunging towards his enemy..his _prey_. Before He felt the blade pierce through naraku's skin, he vanished, reappearing Ten feet from his previous spot. This Enraged the Hanyou even more. 

"What's the matter, InuYasha? That sword weighing you down?" Naraku scoffed. 

"Your right" InuYasha growled, Letting Tetsusaiga drop uselessly to the ground next to him. He cracked his knuckles, his claws seemed longer and sharper than usual. 

InuYasha Bound towards his enemy again to find him vanish once more. Again and again he did this, getting the same result each time. 

"You worthless half breed! You care so much about a human **wench**!" Naraku cackled louder, taunting him, purposely making him angrier. 

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!! I DON'T THINK I HEARD YOU!" InuYasha screamed, Lunging the fastest he had yet at Naraku. "YOU'LL PAY FOR SAYING THAT!!!YOU'LL **PAY**!!!" 

A warmth seemed to surround him joined by a strange tingling feeling. His fangs dug deep into his lip as they grew larger and his eyes became even more fierce than they had been before.Lastly ,His claws lengthened just as they plunged Into Naraku's neck. 

Mercilessly, InuYasha yanked his claws out of his enemy's neck,watching as blood poured from the wound. Almost instantly, InuYasha grabbed hold of his enemies neck again, pinning him to the wall. 

A grin formed on InuYasha's face as he observed the look of sheer terror on the man's face as he pressed harder in an attempt to crush his neck. Pain flooded InuYasha's body as he was sent flying backwards. 

shooting to his feet almost as soon as he hit the floor, he glared at his foe. A grin appeared on his face yet again. His youkai self was enjoying every drop of blood shed. 

InuYasha crackled his knuckles loudly, plunging towards Naraku, hand held high above his head. A red shield was now surrounding Naraku and as InuYasha passed through, an immense amount of pain flooded his body again, even more painful than the last jolt. This did not hinder him like Naraku had hoped and InuYasha's claws had soon enough reached their destination. A shrill scream echoed throughout the room. 

Another thud sounded throughout the room and the shield dimmed and died. As InuYasha's eyes travled to the floor, he found nothing but a large clump of Jewel shards! InuYasha scooped them into cupped hands as His eyes traveled back over to Kagome's lifeless body ten feet from him. The warmth he had felt moments before quickly vanished and he could feel himself returning to normal.

He had no time to think of how unusual the last few minutes had been, but instead based all his thoughts on Kagome, and nothing else. Even though he was barely harmed at all, he felt as if he'd been pierced viciously through the heart. 

Head hanging low, InuYasha trudged over to kagome. He lowered himself down to the ground. 

Shippou and Kagome were..._gone_... 

He bent forwards and let his head rest in his bloodstained hands. Before he had known it, they were covered with tears as well. 

_'They're gone...'__

* * *

Wow, that was a surprise, no? It's not the end, I can give you that much, but it may be for others... Reveiw! Without reveiws, I would never have the heart to finish..! And that is a threat. ;-) _


	10. Chapter Ten

**Title **: Claws   
**Author** The chibi hime   
**Author's notes**: I know you're all probably ticked at me by this point, so figured I ought to get this in fast before I experiance a rather painful, mysterious death due to mad kagome followers...I'll have you know I'm in hiding, so don't even try it. um...I love you guys...; heh..Did I buy any time?   
**Disclaimer**: I don't own InuYasha or any related characters, so technically, it gives me no right to kill them off...life's just screwy that way.   
**Chapter Ten **

* * *

The warmth..where had it gone? Only hours before her beautiful eyes had shone..but now, they were empty. Her eyelids had not once fluttered, not even when her shirt had become drenched with tears. 

InuYasha kept her cold hand in his own, begging her to wake up. He refused to believe she was gone...it wasn't possible. All this time she had been that invincible girl that always got in the way....

His head bent low, he buried his nose in her shoulder...the only thing left was her sweet scent, even now it was different. For hours Miroku and Sango had stood by his side, watching sadly. Kirara had come up cautiously and nudged Shippou with her nose. Getting no reply she stared intently at the Kitsune..waiting for an answer that did not come.

"InuYasha..You should take miss.Kagome back to her time..one last time. Her parents deserve to hold the burying ceremony." Miroku finally whispered.

"No...I won't..she's not..she'll wake.." InuYasha stumbled on his words, knowing it was a lie. She was gone...and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Oh InuYasha" Sango placed a gentle comforting hand on his shoulder and kneeled down next to him. "She deserves a proper burial....You can't hold her back. As horrible as it may sound...she isn't coming back" Sango had to stop to prevent her own tears from escaping. Soon, her own sleeve was damp.

Being too much of a man to cry, Miroku avoided getting teary as much as he possibly could. "Come now InuYasha..."

InuYasha nodded lightly and gently reached down towards the lifeless teen. He slowly lifted her into the air and positioned her in his arms like a baby, letting her head rest on his arm.

As gently as Kagome had been lifted, Sango scooped the severely wounded, Shippou into her arms carefully

* * *

"W-where are we going master?" A small, green, annoying little man asked timidly, trying his best to keep up with his master's long strides. Receiving an annoyed, cold look from his master, he took the hint and looked away, in hopes of saving his own life. 

The demon lord Sesshoumaru walked on, ignoring Jaken as much as he could.

"I don't think for a second it's true" Sesshoumaru replied boldly, after 10 minutes at least.

"hmm?" Jaken turned his head, unable to speak due to the lack of breath.

"You're hopeless Jaken" Sesshoumaru scoffed coldly. "My idiot brother..."

"InuYasha, sir? What about him..." Jaken had been working so hard to keep up with the angry seeming demon lord, that it had begun to be very hard to speak.

There was a long silence, in which neither Sesshoumaru or Jaken had said a word. The night around them seemed eerier that usual and the shadows of the tree's seemed to taunt them. If they had come any closer, they may have even attacked, it would seem.

A cool, bone chilling breeze played with the Sesshoumaru's neat bangs and to Jaken was enough to almost stop him in his tracks.

"Stop, Jaken. Your continuous teeth chattering has become much of a nuisance to me." Sesshoumaru glared down upon the frightened little man.

"Y-yes Sesshoumaru-sama!! I-I'm s-sorry...!" Jaken stumbled around for words like a fool, trying his very best afterwards to control the movement of _any_ part of his body.

It seemed like it had been forever since they had last stopped to break, although this seemed to bother Rin, little. She hopped around nonchalantly behind them, doing wild twists and turns with her arms stretched out far at her sides as if she were flying. The happy expression on her face showed that she wasn't worried at all, in fact, she looked pretty content.

"Sesshoumaru-sama" A polite little voice piped up from behind them. "What is it Rin?" Sesshoumaru sighed, rolling his eyes as if it bothered him, although even he knew that it never did...for this, Jaken envyed Rin.

"How long til we get there?" Rin asked, for the first time showing the slightest sign of whininess.

"How long till we get where?" Jaken asked, annoyed.

"You mean you don't know?" She giggled.

"What!? Master!? You told that little nuisence before me!?" Jaken whined, thrusting the staff of heads into the air accusingly.

"Silence Jaken! I've had it up to here with you." Sesshoumaru threatened, grabbing hold of the staff of heads. Placing one bony finger at Jaken's throat with the other hand, so that just the tip of his claw touched his skin, he made a motion as if he were going to slit his throat.

"I'm _sorry_ master! I'm _sorry_! please forgive me, I had _no_ right to use such tone!!!" Jaken pleaded, sweat forming on his forehead.

With a small hint of a smile, Sesshoumaru released him and continued on if as the confrontation had never happened.

"Don't smile!" Jaken pleaded again, for even he knew, that his punishment later would be greater. "I've just shortened my life, **again**"

* * *

The darkness seemed even more dull than before, although slowly as the evil aura died the scenery actually began to become brighter, as it should be. The birds began to sing catchy little tunes, one by one, although no matter how merry they may have been, they all sounded the same..as if they were just taunting him for being sad. Telling him he had no right on such a glorious occasion. Tormenting him to the point that he wanted to shut them all up in a horrifying manner. 

In his arms, cold and empty, was the only thing that made his life worth living. She was the ticket to his power, and one thing that made everything worth the while. It was hard to believe she was gone, although as time passed by, his heart gave in and he no longer denied it as he had done before, there was no point. She had died at the hands of a great evil that had taken Kikyou away only 50 years before..This made him want to bring Naraku back to life and kill him all over again, more brutally, as himself.

InuYasha sighed heavily, as a lone tear rolled down his cheek and dangled dangerously at the tip of his chin, just threatening to drop. Within an instant, the tear let go of it's lifeline and fell upon the face of the miko, continuing its journey down her cheek, finally stopping in her coal black hair.

A familiar scent tickled the hanyou's nose.

'Sesshoumaru'

More aggressively than he had meant to, InuYasha set Kagome down on the ground, safely by a tall oak tree. Sure enough, a figure in white stepped out of the shadows, accompanied by Jaken, Rin, and Ah-Un.

"Ah, dear brother, there you are." Sesshoumaru called monotonously from afar.

"What do you want?" InuYasha called back aggressively.

"I have come to prove the rumors wrong of course" Sesshoumaru replied arrogantly, as if this were completely obvious, and InuYasha was nothing but a mere idiot for not figuring this out.

"Rumors? Whatever went on here is none of your concern! go back to your pampered life and go away" InuYasha growled agitatedly

"So I take it you failed then?" Sesshoumaru mocked.

"No! I killed that bastard, and I could do it again if I wanted." InuYasha stated boldly, glaring into his brother's eyes.

"You seem more tense than usual, InuYasha...you did something stupid didn't you?" Sesshoumaru mocked again, rolling his eyes teasingly. He loved to mess with his brother's head, and InuYasha noticed. He watched Sesshoumaru's eyes travel disinterestedly to Kagome's lifeless body in the grass. He seemed to stare for a few moments, as if deciding on his own that she were really dead, before returning his gaze on InuYasha.

" I see" Sesshoumaru replied in a low, toneless voice.

The little girl at his side made a sad little noise as she eyed Kagome curiously, she looked as if she were itching to wander up and take a closer look, but as if she were tied to her master by an invisible chain, she resisted.

Embarrassed, InuYasha refused to make eye contact with his brother's ice cold stare, and instead stared at his chest. It was then when the thought occurred to him...

"Tenseiga..." InuYasha mumbled aloud.

Sesshoumaru seemed to see what he was getting at and rolled his eyes again. "I'm no savior, InuYasha. I'm not going to revive your woman."

InuYasha was just about to make an attempt to deny the 'woman' comment, when he was over taken but a sudden urge to rage out on his brother.

"you have to!" InuYasha challenged loudly, reaching out and grasping a hold of the front of Sesshoumaru's robes.

"Or what? Are you going to kill me, InuYasha?" He scoffed arrogantly in reply." I admire your determination, but my answer is still the same. grow up, dear brother." To close the conversation, Sesshoumaru turned sharply breaking InuYasha's grasp without any trouble at all.

Before he had time to think about what he was doing, InuYasha had sprung into the air towards his brother, who seemed to vanish before his eyes and reappear feet from him.

"Don't do this InuYasha, I'm in no mood for pointless games" The demon lord's expression seemed sharper, and more annoyed than usual. "There is nothing I find more annoying than a half breed who doesn't know the meaning of the word 'no' "

"Bring Kagome back, or you will regret ever finding me" Seconds later, a shimmer of light blinded Sesshoumaru for a split moment. When his sight was returned, InuYasha had Tetsusaiga raised above his head, bright beams of sun were bouncing off the high raised blade, creating a glare.

"Stop this now InuYasha!" Two familiar voices chorused from behind him. Miroku and sango had finally caught up to him. He had purposely stayed far ahead so that they wouldn't see his emotion. He had nothing to lose now.

Kirara lept in between InuYasha and Sesshoumaru, fur on end, yet her eyes were kind, and he knew her only intention was to help.

"You must stop this madness, InuYasha. We don't need anymore death on our hands." Miroku scolded, catching his breath.

"What are you saying, monk?" InuYasha scoffed

"Oh come on InuYasha...don't be that way" Sango soothed, cradling Shippou in her arms.

"Don't be what way!?" InuYasha erupted. "I see what your doing..your being nice to me because you pity me, aren't you!" InuYasha stabbed the ground impatiently with the blade of Tetsusaiga " I don't need your pity, so whatever you have to say..say it!"

"Alright." Miroku replied humbley

The horrified look on Sango's face pleaded Miroku to discontinue the conversation then and there, but the monk ignored her completely.

"You would easily be crushed by Sesshoumaru, and it would be a bad time to do that since we are all ready grieving over lady kagome...die on your own time." Miroku replied, in a professional tone, although his words didn't seem that way.

"Smart friends" Sesshoumaru added, amused.

Balancing Shippou on one arm, sango used her other hand to slap herself in the forehead, which was the only way to prevent herself from slapping Miroku, instead.

InuYasha opened his mouth to speak, but Sango interrupted him quickly.

"You" Sango growled, pointing an accusing finger at Miroku "Stop being an idiot, and get serious" (this seemed to offend Miroku only slightly)

"and you" Sango turned on her heel sharply to face the heated Hanyou "We all know in a fair battle you'd have as much chance to defeat your brother as he would, you.. but your too emotional now, and you wouldn't be doing it for the right reasons, nor would it get you what you wanted anyhow. so calm yourself."

"What reasons would be the _right_ reasons?" Miroku commented flatly "He's doing it for love."

"Why change your tune so suddenly, monk?" She replied in the same tone "It's obvious he's doing it for love, but it's not right!"

"HEY! I AM NOT" InuYasha fumed, trying to get a word in. The two,however, completely ignored him as if he had never said it.

"Love's most important" Miroku argued

"What's so important about it, that would make doing something stupid alright?" Sango challenged.

"I don't know.." Miroku replied, fading off.

"You don't kn-" Sango was quickly silenced as Miroku grabbed a hold of her free hand and yanked her forwards, into an unsuspected (yet seemingly planned) kiss.

When the had both pulled away, Miroku watched sango's wide eyed expression. She was blushing, yet she hadn't smacked him...yet.

"Was that alright?" He smirked

"Well it was stupid...but.." Sango looked him in the eye suspiciously " Was it for love?"

"Feh,You two are going to make me puke" InuYasha scoffed , looking over his shoulder at Sesshoumaru who seemed to have an extremely similar look of disgust on his face.

Embarrassed, Sango quietly turned in the opposite direction, her cheeks could have matched InuYasha's robes almost perfectly.

"Well, this has been interesting" Sesshoumaru turned on his heel, making another attempt to take his leave.

"No you don't!" InuYasha growled, lunging towards Sesshoumaru again, missing him by inches.

"Why must you be such a pest, InuYasha?" He grumbled. "Why would you go through so much for a _human_ girl" The emphasis on the '_human_' was well known in this sentence.

InuYasha let his angry gaze drop as he looked at his own bare feet. He let a heavy sigh escape before replying.

" I can't live without Kagome...She may be just a human girl to you, but to me she is more than that...okay?" He mumbled to his feet.

"So you love her?" Sesshoumaru asked, a small teasing note in his voice.

InuYasha's cheeks lit up as soon as the words left the demon lord's mouth.

"Well, do you?" Sesshoumaru stared at the hanyou patiently. There was no reply from his embarrassed brother.

"Alright" Sesshoumaru turned on his heel once more, with little intention of leaving. He was enjoying this too much. As he took two steps forwards, he silently counted down in his head. Right on cue, a small voice from behind him arrived. "Yes..."

When Sesshoumaru didn't stop, InuYasha plunged towards his brother again, in any attempt to stop him from continuing on his way.

Sesshoumaru whipped around again.

"If you are going to keep bugging me..." Sesshoumaru sighed

The hopeful look in InuYasha's eyes disgusted him, and almost made him take it all back. "I will do it...if you leave me alone and stop being such an annoying little pest" Sesshoumaru finished. He made it look like a painful decision... although if one were looking, one might find it looked as if he were actually enjoying the power over InuYasha that he had.

Sesshoumaru reached to his left, unsheathing Tenseiga dramatically for effect. Stiffly, with Tenseiga ready, he made his way towards Kagome.

Unbelieving, InuYasha watched in complete awe as his brother actually did something for..humanity. It made his mind race...would Sesshoumaru really do something like this if he loathed him...or does he actually maybe like his younger brother in some way, shape ,or form?

A large shadow was cast upon the young girl, as Sesshoumaru stood before her, Tenseiga raised. The others watched on the tips of their toes as he swept cleanly through the air at something that to them, didn't even seem to be there.

"What are you trying to pull, Sesshoumaru? Are you just playing a trick on me?" InuYasha accused with a low growl.

Sesshoumaru said not one word, but instead, with a nod, he assured them all that he was finished.

With similar looks at Rin and Jaken, they quickly leapt to his side, as he strode away from the scene as peacefully as he had come.

Everyone's gaze was quickly focused on Kagome. InuYasha's heart began to pound wildly as he watched intently, hoping.

"Kagome..?"

* * *

The blurs were enough to make one's head spin. The whole world seemed to spin in circles around her, and trees and shrubs seemed to dance wildly before her eyes. What she thought was the sky was pale and almost a sort of grey. All the colors of the rainbow seemed to be in front of her eyes at that moment, so it wasn't exactly an easy choice to make in her current condition. 

Kagome continued to try to let her eyes focus, but it seemed to take a lot of energy just to open her eyes. As time passed, it became easier to let her eye lids slide open and things even seemed to come into focus.

_'What is that'...._

Underneath the silvery blur of color were two enormous golden balls...

_'hmmm?_

Moments later, the balls became two very large eyes and the silvery color fell forwards onto her face, tickling her nose as she felt a warm breath on her cheek.

"InuYasha! what are you doing!" She cried aloud, finally figuring it out. As she said this, she had sat up suddenly and accidentally, in the process, kneed the poor hanyou right in the face, sending him backwards into a daze. "I'm sorry...I didn't...you were so close..I...InuYasha?"

InuYasha seemed a little out of it for a few moments, letting the shock of the blow wear off slowly before letting his usual expression return. He opened his mouth to reply with a usual snide comment, but instead found that his whole body had betrayed him, and he shot forwards, yanking the surprised and rather flushed miko into his arms.

"Kagome..I thought I'd never see you again.." He whispered in her ear.

She could feel his heart pounding and she wondered what had actually happened...after all, the last thing she remembered was a sharp pain and blinding light and then...this.

None the less, she returned the hug and wrapped her own arms around his waist tightly, burrying her nose in his shirt.

Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned into what seemed like an hour..although it was the happiest hour she'd ever had, even when she felt as sick to her stomach as she did.

"Wait a minute!" Kagome pulled away so suddenly, that InuYasha nearly yelped in surprise. As her memories slowly came back to her, she remembered she had the small Kitsune in her arms. "Shippou!!!"

Her heart raced as she whipped around to find two blurred figures that she had recognized as Miroku and Sango, even before they had come completely into focus. In Sangos arms, nestled tightly to her stomach, was the small Kitsune.

The world still disagreed with her abit as she stumbled over to them as fast as she could manage without tipping over, struggling with each step.

"Is he alright?" Kagome's eyes seemed to grow in sadness.

"He's fine..He is a full blooded youkai after all. He is pretty badly wounded, but nothing that he cannot recover from within a few weeks." Miroku replied in a soothing tone. "Death, however..isn't something we expected you to just _overcome..._"

"Yes, Kagome...InuYasha did you an incredible favor today..we are all glad, especially him" Sango laughed, glancing over at the hanyou. He was still and silent, but within his eyes it was clear that his insides were leaping for absolute joy, and he was close to doing this on the outside.

" I was dead?" Kagome choked on her words, horrified. "but how...why..am I here?"

"It was the 'so called' heartless demon lord, Sesshoumaru." Miroku replied truthfully and professionally.

Her expression quickly molded into a disbelieving 'stop kidding me' look, but as she noticed their expressions didn't change in the slightest, her mouth fell open.

"For InuYasha" Sango smiled "They are brothers...there is more to the demon lord than meets the eye."

Mouth still open wide, Kagome's legs gave out and she came crashing to the groud, landing on her knees with enough impact to let a small 'eee' escape.

"Kagome!" In a split second, InuYasha was at her side with one arm around her waste, helping her stand to her feet.

She looked up into the worried eyes of her savior, as her own heart pounded uncontrollably.

_'Thank you..'_

* * *

Watching this scene, Sango side glanced at Miroku. 

"Was it for love?"

With an assuring smile, the monk's hand crept slowly for it's destination, just as he began to say something he thought romantic. However, within seconds, the air erupted with that 'ever so' familiar sound.

"Try to pull that one again and I'll- What are you doing"

A mock hurt look appeared on Miroku's face as he held his cheek protectively.

"It won't work" She warned

The monk's head drooped instantly.

"oh..fine" Sango mumbled, as she held out her arms. Right on cue, Miroku stepped forwards and wrapped his arms around her waist, as his 'sad expression' quickly vanished.

"Do it and you die" She whispered into his ear, dangerously

* * *

Well, looks like there will be 11 chapters after all. Well, I hope your happy, I didn't kill off Kagome, Shippou is alright , there is a corny love scene,and everyone even got to see a mildly fluffy side of Sesshoumaru...you're all set. Review it, and I will be too!


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